Haryana CM Saini increases freedom fighters' pension to Rs 40,000

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Tuesday announced a new pension amount for the freedom fighters and their dependents and informed that from July 1, the freedom fighters will receive an increased pension of Rs 40,000.

Taking to his official X handle, the Haryana Chief Minister posted a video in which he said, "The freedom fighters, who sacrificed their life for the country and suffered so much, the pension of freedom fighters and their dependents will be increased from Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000 with effect from July 1."

Saini also increased the pension of fighters during the Emergency period and said, "The fighters during the emergency, who protected the Constitution, who went to jail to protect the democracy of this country, our government initiated a pension of Rs 10,000. And today, I announce that the pension has now been increased to Rs 20,000 with effect from July 1."

Notably, the Haryana Shubhra Jyotsna Pension Scheme was launched by the Government of Haryana on April 16, 2018 with the aim of providing a monthly pension of Rs 10,000 to the residents of Haryana who participated actively during the period of emergency, from June 25, 1975 to March 21, 1977 and faced imprisonment under the Maintenance of Internal Security (MISA) Act, 1971 and/or Defence of India Act, 1962.

The Haryana Chief Minister added further, "The people who struggled to save the Hindi language (Hindi agitators), will also receive Rs 20,000 as pension from July 1."

Meanwhile, on the completion of 49 years of Emergency, Saini said, "Emergency was a dark chapter for the country. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi tried to strangle democracy by imposing an emergency in the country on June 25, 1975."

He added further, "All the big leaders of the opposition were put behind bars. Opposition leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jai Prakash Narayan, Morar ji Desai, Lal Krishna Advani, Chandrashekhar, Biju Patnaik, Chaudhary Charan Singh, Chaudhary Devi Lal, Dr Mangal Sen, Sardar Prakash Singh Badal were imprisoned."

The Emergency, which is considered to be one of the most controversial periods of independent India's history, was imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from June 25, 1975, to 1977.