PTI, CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has written to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, seeking reversal of the ministry’s decision to cap educational expenses paid to children of those personnel who laid down their lives are were disabled in action.
Terming it “immoral” and “unprincipled”, he has called for an immediate review and revocation of the decision. “The move to cap the expenses at Rs 10,000 per month would make a mockery of the objective behind the scheme, announced in the Lok Sabha in 1971 and introduced the next year,” the chief minister said, adding this would amount to undermining the sacrifices of defence personnel.
Dubbing the cap on the expenses as a “shameful disregard” for the contribution of the armed personnel to the country and its citizens, Singh said the fee being paid to the children of martyrs and disabled soldiers was a small price in exchange for what they had given and continue to give to the nation. In a statement here, he said the decision was “not only unethical and immoral but also against the interest of the nation, which need to keep the morale of its armed forces high all the time, especially at the present juncture when India is facing all kinds of internal and external threats to its peaceand stability.”
