File photo

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 9

Armed forces personnel  killed or injured while deployed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC)  with China will now be covered under what is classified as ‘liberalised family pension.’  Under the initiative,100 per cent emoluments last paid will be given as pension to the family of the dead soldier. So far, normal family pension — 30 per cent of last paid emoluments — was admissible to families of those killed along the LAC.  India has committed almost 1.70 lakh troops along the 3,488-km-long border with China. Liberalised family pension has been in existence for Army personnel deployed on the LoC/International Border (IB) along the Pakistan border. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The Ministry of Defence order, issued on March 7, amends the pension policy of February 2011. The amendment says:  “Accidental death/injury sustained due to natural calamities such as floods, avalanches, landslides, cyclone, fire and lightening or drowning in river while performing operational duties/movement in action against enemy forces and armed hostilities in operational area to include deployment on IB, LoC or LAC.” However, the order says the liberalised family pension will only be given to cases after March 7, implying if a casualty occurred during the Doklam standoff in June last year, the soldier’s family will be ineligible for the increased pension. Some 200 families have been left out. They would have been eligible had the order been implemented from 2011.