Centre lifts ₹10,000 cap on edu aid to martyrs’ wards
The government has withdrawn a controversial order issued last year that capped the educational expenses paid to the children of soldiers and officers killed and disabled in action at ₹10,000 per month — a move that will benefit more than 3,200 students.
An order issued by the finance ministry on March 21 said, “Educationalconcessionwillcontinue without the cap of ₹10,000 per month.”
The government confronted a backlash after the defence ministry wrote to the three armed forces chiefs and the coast guard head on September 13, 2017 that the combined amount of tuition fees and hostel charges for such wards should not exceed ₹10,000 per month.
The new order said only students enrolled in government or government-aided schools and educational institutions would be eligible for the concession.
It added that the concession could also be availed of for studying
NEW DELHI:
in military/sainik schools and other schools and colleges recognised by the central and state governments, including autonomous organisations financed by the government.
“By removing the cap on the educational concession, the government has restored the faith of the families left behind in the system. We know we are not alone and the country is with us,” said Shalini Singh, a retired Indian army captain whose husband, Major Avinash Singh Bhadauria, was posthumously awarded the Kirti Chakra in 2001. Their son is pursuing an engineering course.
The government spends more than ₹15 crore a year on educational concessions for the children of officers and soldiers killed in the line of duty.