This Article is From Jul 17, 2019

Families Of Soldiers Killed In Pulwama Given Rs 1 Crore In Aid: Centre

As many as 40 soldiers were killed when terrorists attacked a CRPF convoy passing through Pulwama on February 14. Their families have received nearly Rs 1 crore each.

Families Of Soldiers Killed In Pulwama Given Rs 1 Crore In Aid: Centre

Nityanand Rai said the soldiers' families received Rs 91.5 lakh each, besides further aid from states.

New Delhi:

Families of the 40 CRPF soldiers killed in the Pulwama terror attack earlier this year have been provided with compensation and monetary benefits amounting to nearly Rs 1 crore, the central government said in the Rajya Sabha today.

"The compensation and benefits are as follows: Rs 35 lakh as central ex-gratia lump sum compensation; Rs 5 lakh as ex-gratia from duty state; Rs 20 lakh from the CRPF Risk Fund; Rs 1.5 lakh from the CRPF Central Welfare Fund; and Rs 30 lakh from the State Bank of India Paramilitary Salary Package cover," Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said in response to a question.

The soldiers' families also received compensation from their home states as per applicable rules, he added.

The Pulwama terror attack, carried out by a suicide bomber affiliated to the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) along the Jammu-Srinagar highway on February 14, caused relations between India and Pakistan to nosedive in the weeks that followed. Ten days after the attack, Indian jets flew across the border to destroy a JeM camp in Balakot. Pakistan reciprocated the following day by sending F-16 fighters into India, leading to an aerial dogfight that ended with the capture of an Indian pilot.

The pilot, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, was released a few days later.

In another response tabled in Parliament earlier this month, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy had declared that four of the five terrorists involved in the Pulwama terror attack have been killed and the remaining one arrested. "Out of five accused, one was a suicide bomber. One accused was arrested, while three others were neutralised during pro-active engagement by security forces," he said.

Mr Reddy also denied reports that intelligence failure had led to the attack. "All agencies are working in a coordinated manner, and intelligence inputs are being shared among various agencies on a real-time basis," he said, adding that many terrorists have been eliminated over the last few years due to the Narendra Modi government's "zero-tolerance policy against terror".

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