Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Friday announced ex-gratia to the families of 20 soldiers killed in the India-China faceoff in Ladakh while stating that the nation should send a message to the defence forces guarding the borders that it stood with them.
The Telangana government would give Rs 5 crore ex-gratia to the family of 39-year old Colonel Bikkumalla Santosh Babu and Rs 10 lakh each to the kin of the 19 other soldiers who were martyred in the high altitude border clash with the Chinese troops in Galwan Valley on Monday night, he said.
The Centre and other state governments should also come forward to support the families of the martyrs, Rao told Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the virtual all-party meet on the border face-off, an official release said.
"The country should support the soldiers who are defending it in the borders. We should support the families of soldiers who were martyred, thereby we should instill confidence in the (minds of) soldiers and their families. We should send a message to all defence forces that the country is with them," Rao said.
Besides the ex-gratia, the wife of the Colonel, who belonged to Telangana, would be given a Group-1 job in the government besides a house plot, the release quoted the chief minister as saying. The Rs 10 lakh relief to the 19 families will be given through the Defence Minister, Rao added.
Though there were financial constraints due to the coronavirus pandemic, all governments should minimise their other expenditure and extend support for the welfare of the brave soldiers.
Santosh, commanding officer of the 16 Bihar Regiment, had led the soldiers during the fierce clash with Chinese troops in the first such incident involving fatalities after a gap of 45 years, signalling a massive escalation in the five-week border standoff in the sensitive region.
(With inputs from PTI)
Comments
0 comment