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New Delhi, July 9: Former Air Chief Marshal, RKS Bhadauria, on the ANI podcast, said that "there would be reviews" when asked about the ongoing political row over the Agniveer scheme. Bhadauria, who joined the BJP in March ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, added that "(for) every scheme there is a provision for review, it is mentioned by the Raksha Mantri," effectively sending out the message that there was provision for review in the policy.
Taking a vieled jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has been questioning the Agniveer scheme and its related aspects such as "insurance vs compensation", the former Air Chief Marshal, when pressed for his comment, said: "The Defence Services are not worried, the people sitting outside are worried who know little about where we are."
Admitting that there is possible for tinkering, the former Air Chief Marshal added and assured that there would be reviews.
Clearing the air over insurance and compensation for Agniveers, he said that the insurance amount gets credited first and that the ingratia amount is passed after a review and that the process is same for the normal soldier and the Agniveer.
Political Row Over Agniveer
Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, continued his attack at the BJP-led government in the Centre regarding the Agniveer row. The Congresss leader claimed that the family of Agniveer recruit Ajay Kumar, who sacrificed his life in the line of duty in a landmine explosion in Jammu & Kashmir's Naushera in January this year, was yet to get any compensation.
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Rahul Gandhi on Friday (July 5) said that "there is a difference between compensation and insurance,” further amplifying the issue. The Congress leader also accused the PM Modi's government in the Centre of "discriminating" against the Agniveers and alleged that the government was not supporting the Agniveers who had died in the line of duty. He also sought the apology of Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh in a video relesed on his 'X' handle on July 5.
The Army in a post on social media X, without naming anyone, had rejected claims made by several social media handles regarding emoluments to Agniveer Ajay Kumar. The Army gave a detailed explanation of the matter in its post on X.
"Certain posts on Social Media have brought out that compensation hasn't been paid to the Next of Kin of Agniveer Ajay Kumar who lost his life in the line of duty. It is emphasised that the Indian Army salutes the supreme sacrifice made by Agniveer Ajay Kumar. The last rites were carried out with full Military Honours. Of the total amount due, family of Agniveer Ajay has already been paid Rs 98.39 lakhs," read the Army post.
