Hyderabad: When Kargil War martyr Sergeant P.V.N.R. Prasad was posthumously awarded the Vayu Sena medal (for gallantry) in 1999, his wife Anuradha did not receive any gazette notification or letter from the Indian Air Force to claim monetary allowance. She never approached the Indian Air Force or the Sainik Welfare department for the same.
Recently, Col Ramesh Kumar, director, Sainik Welfare, Telangana, accidentally came across the case of the late Sgt Prasad while going through the details of gallantry award winners of the Indian Air Force on the internet. When contacted, Anuradha said she was unaware of the monetary allowance given to gallantry awardees, a statement from the Sainik Welfare said.
Col Kumar immediately took up the proposal with the Indian Air Force Headquarters after which the pension payment order (PPO) for the grant of monetary allowance for the award was sanctioned on July 17, 2023. "The amount along with arrears w.e.f. date of death of Sgt Prasad, i.e, May 29, 1999, will soon be credited to the bank account of Anuradha shortly. Henceforth, the monthly amount shall be paid along with pension every month," the notice read.
Back in May 1999, the allowance was Rs 250 per month, but was enhanced in 2016 to Rs 2,100 per month. "The arrears for 24 years since May 1999 come close to Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 lakh. From next month, she will receive Rs 2,100 every month," Col Kumar told Deccan Chronicle.
Anuradha's was the third such case where the wife of a military personnel who had laid down his life hadn't received her allowance. Col Kumar came across the first such case in 2018 when, over a conversation, he realised that she didn't possess the documents necessary for the allowance and educated her about the same and got it done for her.
“Since then I have been doing my research, to ensure there are no such cases and found two more later, Anuradha being the third. My search for such cases will keep continuing, as these families rightfully deserve it. I hope all of them have received it and nobody else would have missed out on the allowances," he said.
