In a significant decision aimed at benefitting the victims of militancy, the Executive Council of State Rehabilitation Council (SRC) headed by Chief Secretary, Shri B V R Subrahmanyam Friday approved enhancement in the monthly pension of widows, old aged and specially-abled persons from existing Rs 750 to Rs 1000 besides approving action plan for the year 2018-19 of Rs 10.10 Crore.The Plan will cover 7686 militancy victims under the pension and marriage assistance schemes.Further, the Executive Council also approved action plan of Rs 1.58 Crore for covering 1756 orphans of killed militants (without discrimination) under the scholarship scheme.Principal Secretary, Home, Principal Secretary, Planning, Monitoring & Development, Principal Secretary, Finance, Secretary, Social Welfare, Executive Director, SRC, representative of the National Foundation for Communal Harmony, New Delhi and other senior officers attended the meeting.Executive Director, SRC informed the Council that since 2014-15, 467 units of Motorized Tricycles have been distributed among the specially-abled persons across the state including 50 units in 2014-15, 209 units in 2015-16 and 208 units in 2016-17.
Executive Director further informed that 500 more units of Motorized Tri Cycles have been procured by the Council and these have been already dispatched to the Districts for further distribution among the registered beneficiaries. Chief Secretary exhorted the Council to ensure that victims of militancy receive priority under the scheme.Chief Secretary called upon the Council to popularize ‘Project Assist’, a flagship scheme of the National Foundation for Communal Harmony, which has provision of providing financial assistance to the children rendered orphans or destitute in various communal, caste, ethnic or terrorist violence for their care, education and training.In order to ensure that children of militancy victims receive scholarship while undergoing professional studies in State Universities, Chief Secretary asked the SRC to provide the children affected by militancy the required certificates for availing such scholarships.