As a matter of fact, which several people don’t know, Army soldiers are treated differently on the basis of where they are being deployed. Soldiers who take care of the China front, that is ‘Line of Actual Control’ (LAC) get fewer benefits than those who are deployed on Pakistan front or Line of Control (LoC).
The families of troops killed on the Pakistan and China front receive unequal compensation.
The kin of Army soldiers who get killed while on duties or even accidents on the western front with Pakistan receive ‘liberalised’ family pensions, which is equivalent to 100 percent of the last-drawn salary of the soldier. Moreover, they get an enhanced ex-gratia, equivalent to 45 lakhs.
On the other hand, the families of soldiers who die at the eastern front with China receive 60 percent of the last drawn salary of the soldier as pension, and an ex-gratia of Rs 35 lakh, as per a report by Times of India.
“Families of soldiers who have laid down their lives in the line of duty, whether due to cross-border firings or accidents and avalanches, should not be treated differently. But the families of soldiers on the LAC get less benefits as compared to those on LoC and IB,” a senior official said.
For decades the Army has been struggling with the injustice, as operational conditions on LAC are sometimes stiffer than that on LoC. The high altitude china front has been marked hostile since the disengagement of the troops of the Doklam -standoff.
The LAC on the China border reaches Ladakh from Arunachal Pradesh, measuring 4,057 km, and soldiers are currently deployed along its stretch. Whereas, troops are deployed on Pakistan’s front over 778 km LoC.
The defence ministry refuted equal compensations saying LAC was not “a live border with a war-like situation” like the LoC.