SAD urges Punjab CM to release Rs 15 lakh grant to war widows or face agitation

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Sainik Wing on Saturday demanded the Congress government to immediately release the pending Rs 15 lakh grant to around 100 war widows and warned of agitation if their demands were not met.

In a press statement, SAD Sainik Wing president Gurjinder Singh Sidhu said: "It is condemnable that the Congress government was not releasing the pending grant despite the fact that a major portion of the Rs 50 lakh granted to the families of the martyrs by former CM Parkash Singh Badal was released by the previous SAD-BJP government."

Sidhu further said that during the previous government, a policy had been formulated to grant Rs 50 lakh each to around 100 families whose members had laid down their lives during the wars in 1962, 1965 and 1971, and said that while Rs 35 lakh was released to the families by the previous SAD-BJP government, the families were running everywhere to get the remaining Rs 15 lakh released.

"It is condemnable that Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, who was an ex-serviceman himself, was discriminating against the war widows in such a fashion. If the CM was really serious about the welfare of ex-servicemen, he should order an immediate inquiry into the delay in the release of the grant to the war widows and take prompt action in the matter," said Sidhu.

He said that Capt Singh should direct Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal to release the grant immediately, and further said that if the government did not give justice to the war widows, the SAD Sainik Wing would be constrained to hold protests in front of the Sainik Welfare Boards at all district headquarters.