Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has approved the establishment of four Zila Sainik Boards in the national capital to benefit of about 77,000 ex-servicemen (ESM), widows of ESM, and their families.
As per the information, the government will fund 60 per cent of the cost.
LG expresses grief and shock over the Kejriwal government's unjustified apathy for ESMs and their families, resulting in a three-year delay in the proposal.
In 2019, the then-LG passed the proposal and sent it to GNCTD (Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi). In a long-awaited step that would serve around 77,000 Ex-servicemen (ESM), widows of ESM and their families in Delhi, the Lt. Governor, VK Saxena, who is also the President of the Rajya Sainik Board, has sanctioned the establishment of 04 Zila Sainik Boards (ZSBs) in the NCT of Delhi.
South-West, East/Shahdara, North-West, and Central/New Delhi districts will now have ZSBs consisting of ten officials each, catering to the resettlement and rehabilitation requirements of the ESM, who sacrificed their finest years for the safety, honour, and integrity of the nation.
The Rajya/Zila Sainik Boards are responsible for policy formulation and implementation of resettlement and welfare schemes for Ex-Servicemen, widows and their dependents residing in their respective States/UTs/Districts.
The LG has observed the unjustified indifference of the Kejriwal government to the ESMs and their families by excessively delaying decision-making in this regard for approximately three years, despite the fact that in-principle approval for this move had been granted by the then LG-led Rajya Sainik Board, back in 2019 and that 60 per cent of the cost for the same is to be borne by the government. It should be noted that it took the GNCTD Cabinet approximately three years to decide on this and send it to the Lt. Governor for final approval. The file, which was first filed in 2019, was finally approved by the Cabinet in May 2022, over two and a half years later, and it was submitted after being legally signed by the Chief Minister as recent as September 27 of this year.
The decision is based on the 2018 Report of the Government-established High-Level Committee on ESM Problems, which suggests the establishment of ZSBs by relevant State Governments if the number of ESMs and their families exceeds 7,500. As a result, in December 2019, at the 13th meeting of the Rajya Sainik Board, chaired by the then Lt. Governor, it was decided to establish four ZSBs - one in each of the above-mentioned districts, based on inputs received from ESMs residing in the NCT of Delhi, ESMs Associations located in Delhi, and the three Service Headquarters.
While acknowledging the need to extend the ESM network organisation, the then-LG also mandated that their strength be taken into account. The aforementioned judgments were transmitted to the Revenue Department (the Administrative Department in charge of the Rajya Sainik Board) in order to initiate a specific proposal to that effect.
The budgetary implications for creating the four ZSBs in accordance with the Ministry of Defence, Govt. the Government of India would be Rs 16,68,69,184.00 (Rs. 16.69 crores). The Government of India will fund 60 per cent of the cost, with the remainder being borne by the state governments.
( With inputs from ANI )
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