HP government increases pension given to ex-servicemen, their widows by 40 per cent

Hamirpur (HP), May 16 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh government has made a one-time increase of 40 per cent in the pension given to ex-servicemen and and their widows, Veer Naris, through the Sainik Welfare Department, officials said on Friday.

The ex-servicemen and Veer Naris will now receive a monthly pension of Rs 5,000 instead of Rs 3,000, they said.

The pension given to ex-servicemen and their widows who took voluntary retirement before the year 1987 has been increased by Rs 2,000 per month, officials said.

In the first quarter of the financial year, in the month of June, a lump sum of Rs 15,000 will be released for three months -- April, May and June -- Brigadier Madansheel Sharma, Director of Sainik Welfare Department, said.

A total of 507 ex-servicemen and their widows in the state will be benefitted from the pension increase. These ex-servicemen do not receive any pension from the Government of India, he said.

Currently, 246 ex-servicemen and 261 widows of ex-servicemen in the state will get the benefit of pension increase. Earlier Rs 15,21,000 was the allotted monthly budget for the monthly pensions of ex-servicemen and their widows, which has now been increased to a monthly budget of Rs 25,35,000. PTI COR BPL OZ OZ

Source: PTI