Rajnath announces Rs 1 crore aid to kin of martyred paramilitary jawans

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday announced that the family of each paramilitary jawan who dies in action will be given a compensation of Rs 1 crore each.

He also declared that 34,000 posts of paramilitary constables were upgraded as head constables.

Addressing a 'Sainik Sammelan' of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force at the Sherathang border outpost, the home minister said the nation appreciates and is proud of the sacrifice of its paramilitary jawans.

The paramilitary forces have been fighting the Naxals in central and eastern parts of the country, militants in Jammu and Kashmir, and guarding the borders in inhospitable terrains.

"The sacrifice of our jawans cannot be compensated with money. But the families of martyrs should not face any difficulty. Therefore, I will ensure that family of each paramilitary jawan gets at least Rs 1 crore as compensation," he said.

The announcement came nearly a month after the killing of 25 Central Reserve Police Force jawans by Naxals at Sukma in Chhattisgarh.

Earlier, the home minister visited the India-China border post in Nathu La in Sikkim and reviewed the security situation.

The home minister said a lot has been done for the welfare of paramilitary personnel but much more needs to be done in the coming days.

Singh asked the ITBP jawans to use the recently launched mobile app by the home ministry to register their grievances, including personal problems, so that the ministry can try to resolve them.

The home minister also promised to look into the demand of the ITBP to bring uniformity in high altitude allowances.

The total length of the Sino-Indian border is 3,488 km of which 1,597 km runs through Jammu and Kashmir, 200 km in Himachal Pradesh, 345 km in Uttarakhand, 220 km in Sikkim and 1,126 km in Arunachal Pradesh.

The border is not fully demarcated and the process of clarifying and confirming the Line of Actual Control is in progress.

The border areas, which are located at high altitudes, have inadequate development and infrastructure facilities.

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force guards this border and has established 173 Border Out Posts.

Out of these BOPs, 35 are in the western sector (Jammu and Kashmir), 71 in the middle sector (Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand) and 67 in the eastern sector (Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh).

The home minister also interacted with army jawans.