Sainik welfare boards to play more active role: Raju

Bhopal, Feb 14 (UNI) Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju today issued a clarion call to sainik welfare boards to play a more active role in solving ex-servicemen's pension-linked problems.

''The Centre is committed to solving the problems but the boards interact more extensively with ex-servicemen and should serve as a bridge,'' he said while inaugurating the two-day 80th Defence Pension Adalat, the second event of its kind being organised in Madhya Pradesh by the Controller-General (Defence Accounts).

Pension cases were a high-priority issue for the ministry, Mr Raju maintained.

''India has 22,50,000 defence pensioners and the number rises by 65,000 annually. The average defence pension budget is Rs 13,000 crore, which is about half the Centre's pension budget,'' said C-G (Defence Accounts) Gyan Prakash.

Pointing out that the Centre had even opened an office in Nepal for the convenience of retired Gorkha soldiers, he added that the 'raksha adalat' process began in 1987.

''A special cell has been formed in the Defence Ministry for tackling such cases,'' said Special Secretary Rekha Bhargav.

Of the 325 cases that were brought forward today, 185 were sorted out.

UNI