Haryana notifies appointment policy for battle casualties' family members

The Haryana government on Monday notified a revised compassionate appointment policy for family members of armed forces and the Central Armed Police Forces personnel who die in the line of duty and are declared as "battle casualties".

The policy was accorded a Cabinet nod on August 4. The earlier policy provided jobs solely to the dependents of those personnel who lost their lives in border skirmishes, terrorist attacks or riots and were formally declared as martyrs by the Ministry of Defence or the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, a statement said.

According to the revised policy, dependents of martyrs who lost their lives in various incidents in the line of duty, be it in wars, IED blasts, terrorist or militant attacks, border skirmishes, United Nations peacekeeping missions or even in accidents, cardiac arrests, air crashes, and natural calamities that demand exceptional courage and dedication will be provided compassionate appointment, it said.

The policy widens the scope of compassionate appointments, acknowledging the diverse range of circumstances under which these heroes have made the ultimate sacrifice for the nation, the notification issued by Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal stated.

"This policy, which comes into effect from today, will provide an opportunity to one of the eligible family members of a battle casualty to be appointed to a post of Group B, C or D in the Haryana government," Kaushal said.

Under the revised policy, the definition of eligible family members has also been extended. The family of a 'battle casualty' now includes a spouse or one of the children (married or unmarried) if the spouse does not want such an appointment.

It also includes legally adopted children, provided the adoption was done when the deceased soldier or battle casualty was alive, the statement said.

"Parent, if the battle casualty was unmarried. If a parent does not want appointment, either the brother (unmarried or married) or an unmarried sister of an unmarried battle casualty, for which consent is given by parents and other unmarried sister(s) and brother(s)," it said.