Chandigarh, February 8: Haryana Cabinet which met under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal here today gave ex-facto approval to a proposal regarding providing financial assistance of Rs. 50 lakh to the family members of Late Brigadier Lakhwinder Singh Lidder, a Haryana resident, who lost his life in the Tamil Nadu helicopter crash accident.

The cases of ex-gratia grant to the families/disabled personnel of Armed Forces (Army, Navy and Air Force) belonging to Haryana State, killed/disabled in war, in operational area, terrorist activities and natural calamities etc. under the Jurisdiction of Ministry of Defence, Government of India, who are resident of Haryana at the time of commissioning are considered under the policy of the Haryana Government.

As per the Policy, the rate of Ex-gratia grant is to be given to Armed Forces Personnel (Army, Navy and Air Force), who get killed/disabled in the performance of their bonafide official duties while serving in operational areas, in war/terrorist or military attack, border skirmishes and United Nation Peace Keeping Force etc.

The grant Ex-gratia admissible under the policy/instruction shall be given in all cases of "Battle Casualty" as declared by the Defence Authorities, irrespective of any operation or any specified area of operation.

It is pertinent to mention here that on December 8, 2021, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, his wife and Brigadier Lakhwinder Singh Lidder, along with several armed forces personnel lost their lives in a helicopter crash near Coonoor, Wellington (Tamil Nadu) while on Bonafide military duty. The death has taken place in Air Crash. The casualty has been classified as ‘Provisional Battle Casualty’.