LG REJECTS ~1CR FOR OROP SUICIDE VICTIM’S FAMILY

NEWDELHI: Delhi lieutenant governor Anil Baijal has rejected the AAP government’s proposal to award ~1 crore as compensation to the family of Ram Kishan Grewal, an ex-serviceman who allegedly committed suicide in November last year over the nonimplementation of the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme.

Officials said Baijal took the decision on March 6 because the “death did not occur in the line of duty, as mandated under the existing policy”.

The proposal, cleared by the Delhi cabinet in December last year, had also granted the martyr status to 70-year-old Grewal. While Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal described the move as “anti-army”, Grewal’s son Jaswant said his family was not worried because the AAP government has promised to follow up on its promise. “When we spoke to the Delhi chief minister today, he said he will fulfil his promise against all odds. He had said there was no need to worry when our entire family met him in Delhi five days ago,” Jaswant added.

This is the first major decision of the Kejriwal government to be rejected by Baijal.

This specific case does not fall within the parameters of the scheme for the grant of ex-gratia payment i.e. death occurring in the discharge of official duty. Therefore, while I fully sympathise with the family of late subhedar (retd) Ram Kishen Grewal, I’m not able to agree to the proposal for payment of ex-gratia relief,” Baijal said in a note sent back to the government.