On 19 July 2023, a fire broke out in an army bunker in Siachen. Some soldiers got trapped in that fire. Seeing his comrades trapped like this, Captain Anshuman entered the blazing bunker and brought out his three comrades safely. But in this attempt, he himself got burnt and he died during treatment.
Seeing his bravery, the Indian government awarded him the Kirti Chakra posthumously a few days ago. But now there is a dispute between Anshuman Singh’s parents and his wife regarding the medal and documents. Well, let us tell you today in this episode that when a soldier is martyred, then who is the real claimant of compensation.
is determined by NOK
NOK means Next of Kin. In simple language, you can understand it as the closest relative. We use this word for a person’s closest relative or legal representative. There is a rule in the army regarding this. When a person joins the Indian Army, he has to register one of his relatives or the closest person in NOK.
In most cases, the name of the mother or father or both is mentioned in the NOK. This is because most of the soldiers are not married when they join the army. Later, when the soldier gets married, he also enters his wife’s name in the NOK.
A special document called Part-2
Let us now explain how NOK works. Actually, when something happens to a person serving in the army, the ex-gratia is given only to the person whose name is in the NOK. During recruitment in the army, a document called Part-2 is filled. This document decides who the soldier keeps in the NOK and at what percentage.
Usually married soldiers follow a 70:30 formula. That is, 70% of the share goes to the wife’s name and 30% to the parents. Some soldiers follow a 50:50 formula. That is, 50% goes to the parents’ name and 50% goes to the wife’s name. The ex-gratia amount is given to the NOK of the soldier according to the formula he decides. That is, who will get how much ex-gratia amount depends entirely on how much share the soldier has given to whom in the NOK in the document called Part-2.
Different formulas for states
However, this formula applies only to the ex-gratia amount which is received from the army and the central government. If the state government gives any ex-gratia amount to a martyr, then the rules of that state apply on it. For example, in Madhya Pradesh, the ex-gratia amount is given equally to the parents and the wife. Whereas, in Uttar Pradesh, the martyr’s wife gets 35 lakhs and the martyr’s parents get 15 lakhs. Whereas in Haryana, the 70:30 formula applies for ex-gratia amount. That is, 70 percent of the money goes to the wife and 30 percent to the parents.
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