Surjit Kaur, mother of 1965 war martyr Gajjan Singh, died last week. Tribune photo

Amaninder Pal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 12

Two months on, the government is yet to fulfil its promise of awarding compensation to widows and kin of martyrs of 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars.Kin of two martyrs of the 1965 Indo-Pak war have died in the past 15 days, awaiting the compensation. And for decades, 161 such families are running from pillar to post to avail their compensation.The state government announced Rs 50 lakh compensation to the family of each martyr on October 14, this year. The announcement came after war widows and family members of martyrs organised a 20-day sit-in in front of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s residence. They refused to call off the protest till the issuance of a notification on October 19. But despite the issuance of notification, families are awaiting compensation.“The government had promised to provide Rs 50 lakh as compensation in three instalments. We were told that the first instalment of Rs 20 lakh will be disbursed by November 1. But not even a single penny has been released by the government so far,” said Gursewak Singh of Duladi village of Patiala. Gursewak’s father Piara Singh died in the 1965 war.“Our queries revealed that the Directorate of Sainik Welfare has forwarded all cases to the Finance Department. Now, the department has to release the money,” he said.“Both my grandmother and mother Harbhajan Kaur have died waiting for compensation. My mother passed away in April this year. She always wished for a better life, but that was possible only if the government compensated us. But the wish remained unfulfilled,” said Harnek Singh, whose grandmother Surjit Kaur died last week.Surjit, mother of 1965 war martyr Gajjan Singh and a resident of Kandala village in Mohali district, had participated in the 20-day protest in front of the CM’s house. Kesar Singh, brother of 1965 war martyr Jarnail Singh, died on November 30.However, Satish Chandra, Secretary, Finance, said, “Since the government has decided to award compensation to such families, it will be released without any delay.”