Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 6

The state government has decided to delegate the power to grant ex-gratia to Deputy Commissioners, Zila Sainik and Ardh Sainik Welfare Officers. The move aims at ensuring faster dispensation of financial relief to the bereaved families of martyrs.An official spokesperson said today that the power to sanction ex-gratia of Rs 50 lakh had been delegated to Deputy Commissioners so that there was no delay in the transit of documents from the district office to the Headquarters and vice-versa. He said it had been observed that often the defence and paramilitary authorities took time to issue necessary documentation in cases of death due to enemy action, terrorist encounters and IED blasts. The government has, therefore, decided to release the ex-gratia financial grant in cases of martyrdom which are widely reported in the media and where the facts are self-evident. In such cases, the government has decided not to wait for the issuance of documents from the military and paramilitary authorities and release the ex-gratia grant immediately.He said since November 2014, the state government had offered more than 120 jobs to the next of kin of martyrs in 2016-17 in the Group C and Group D categories.The government provides ex-gratia financial compensation of Rs 50 lakh to the bereaved families. This is the highest amount of ex-gratia for the families of martyrs in the country. The state offers the highest amount of financial assistance in the country to the families of the martyrs.He said: “Soldiers bravely defend our country from external aggression and ensure internal security so that we can live, work and sleep in peace.”Haryana is known for its contribution of personnel to the national defence and paramilitary forces. The number of ex-servicemen in the state is more than 2.83 lakh and their dependents’ number is about 8.75 lakh. Besides, there are 1,216 war widows, 85,121 widows and their 2,48,099 dependents. There are also 5,500 World War II ESM and widows. A large number of soldiers lay down their lives in the service of the nation at the borders, internal security duties, terrorist action and riots.