• Here is a simple FAQ on the Next of Kin Rules written by a Veteran’s wife. Did the matter get national attention post award ceremony of Kirti Chakra? The father being ex-Army must be aware of the rules! Spare a moment for the lady who lost her husband. 

President Droupadi Murmu was awarding Gallantry Medals to the recipients in Rashtrapati Bhavan, when the face of a young widow Smriti Singh, grieving and vulnerable, receiving Kirti Chakra, along with her mother-in-Law Mrs Manju Singh, caught the nation’s imagination. Her son Captain Anshuman died in July 2023 at Siachen.

The tragedy of the young widow ignited a wave of patriotic gratitude for Defence Officers/Personnel and their families. This was just when a very unsavoury debate on Compensation to next of kin for two Agniveers, killed in Action, was at the centre of Parliament debates and newsrooms .

The present issue 

Subsequent to the award ceremony the media carried bytes of Mrs Manju Singh, mother of Captain Anshuman Singh and husband of Smriti Singh (KIA-killed in action) stating her opposition to the Agniveer Scheme, after a meeting with Rahul Gandhi. How the two are related is not clear! Her Doctor son was surely not an Agniveer!

Post this statement the parents gave another interview to the media where they demanded that rules of compensation for NoK be changed. They wanted the definition of NoK (next of Kin) to include parents, unmarried siblings etc. Citing their own case they claimed that the wife of five months had moved out, got all compensation while they were left without anything.

Did the parents realize the mental state of a young girl who had lost her husband?

This FAQ seeks to simply tell the rules, legal and moral aspects on this issue. We need to understand who are Next of Kin (NoK), dependants and the system of Nomination which exists for all those who are employed. Key questions are 1 to 6.

1. What is case with unmarried Officer/PBOR?

When an officer/PBOR (person below rank of officer) joins service he has to be unmarried. The officer/PBOR has to fill forms in which his next of kin and dependants are mentioned. He has to give names of nominees for various benefits like Group insurance, Insurance etc. Since the officer is unmarried, the NoK is invariably parents, mostly the Mother, if alive.

The dependants of an unmarried officer can be Unmarried sister if unemployed, unmarried brother if unmarried and up to age 25. Parents can only be dependants if their monthly earnings are below the specified amount. This amount is Rs 9,000 plus Dearness Allowance per month. The dependants are entitled to medical and canteen facilities, travel concessions. 

2. Are NoK and Dependant same?

It needs to be understood that NoK, if parents, may not be dependant on the officer and thus Medical facilities, canteen cards etc may not be applicable to them.

In case a Bachelor dies, the NoK being parents gets all the benefits and pension. When an officer gets married then his Wife is entitled to compensation in case KIA. If the parents were dependant on their son and his wife is not sharing pension with the parents, the parents can make an application asking for the pension to be shared as appropriate. More on this later.

3. What Happens when Officer/PBOR Gets married?

After the age of 25 the officer/PBOR is entitled to get married. Post marriage the NoK is the spouse. Dependants may be unmarried, unemployed siblings and parents fulfilling eligibility conditions. Spouse, Children, step-children, adopted children are natural dependants. They are entitled to all service benefits and include unmarried daughters till marriage, sons till age of 25 and spouse till end of life.

There is no problem in the normal service pension, which the officer gets post- retirement, in accordance with rules. Post demise the NoK gets Family pension, which is also not disputed.

The problem comes in Battle Casualty deaths when officer is married , and there are parents, wife and children.

4. What is procedure of Nominating NoK, Dependants?

The officer cannot lay down how his pension would be disbursed. In case married the first claimant of pension would always be the wife. This is applicable to all government servants. Pension is given to only one person. In case that person is not supporting the dependents, the aggrieved party can claim for division. 

5. Distribution of Pension in case of Death in service 

The officer/PBOR can give 100% pension to his wife. He also has to give instructions how it has to be distributed in case of her demise.

He can give 70% of pension to the wife and 30% to his parents, mostly done if parents are financially weak. He can even give 50-50 to both, but that has to be approved by the commanding officer. This way the wife and children are well protected in case of the officer’s death.

The Forms have to be filled up at the specified intervals and updated with details of children, parents, dependant siblings etc. 

Again the officer cannot lay down how the pension will be distributed after the death of spouse. The dependent unmarried children below 25 years of will be the first claimant, then handicapped children, then unmarried/widowed/divorced dependent daughters and then to the dependent parents. These provisions are for all government employees.

6. What happens in case of death during service (Killed in action)

Post Death during service (Killed in action), there are multiple Ex Gratia awards. The Group insurance is divided between parents and wife 50% each. State governments announce ex gratia payments for the family which is normally divided 67- 33% between wife and parents.

7. Does widow get pension if she remarries?

Yes, widow gets pension post remarriage. The details of remarriage with children/without children are dealt in the rules governing pension.

8. Do parents get Pension, medical benefits?

Parents will get pension if and as specified by their son in the nomination form/ will.

9. Are parents entitled to medical and canteen benefits?

They are entitled to these benefits only if they are dependant as per the eligibility referred to above or designated as NoK.

Some points to be noted-

1. With women in service, it is the spouse who gets pension benefits if lady dies in service. The parents get 50% of Group insurance and 33% of State announced ex gratia. There are a few cases of lady officers killed in action.

2. The Demand of parents in this particular case rises out of their particular circumstances. In a large organisation every case cannot be treated with special rules

3. The wife is legally entitled to all benefits as soon as marriage is solemnised. There is no condition with respect to duration of marriage or having children.

4. Children are dependants. In case of death of mother pension will go to unmarried daughter (widowed and divorced are also eligible ) and son till he is 25 years . But in case wife is alive she gets all benefits till her last breath .

5. When a man marries a woman, he promises her security. Pension is a means of fulfilling that promise.

Conclusion

To conclude the present case is not straight forward. The parents have met CM Yogi Adityanath and Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh two times each. Their son made the supreme sacrifice in July 2023. It might be interesting to know why the matter of pension etc has caught attention after award of Kirti Chakra.

The parents want the Next of Kin rules changed. As stated above they met leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi too and mother commented on Agniveer scheme.

Is this the way of going about asking for change in rules? There seems to be more than meets the eye! Or is a domestic issue with the daughter-in-law being converted into a national issue.

In this interview on News9live Lt Gen Rakesh Sharma, former Adjutant General of India said, “The mother and widow received Rs 50 lakhs each from the Army Group Insurance Fund. Of the Rs 50 lakhs given by the Uttar Pradesh government Rs 15 lakhs has gone to the mother.”

Post hearing this 27 minute interview Captain Anshuman Singh’s parents realized that his respected father Ravi P Singh was in the Army. It means he and wife will get pension life-long and medical benefits too so financially they should have little cause for worry. Why then are parents questioning the grant of benefits to their late son’s wife? Surely, father must be aware of the rules. The homemaker mother opposes Agniveer scheme in interview, a bit unusal! 

Spare a moment and put yourself in the shoes of Smriti Singh, a woman who lost her husband within five months of marriage and got married after eight years of a long distance relationship. What must be going on in her mind? She has to rebuild her life from scratch. 

Many veterans like respected Meghna Girish have requested that the pension should also be partially distributed to living parents and the definition of NoK can also be tweaked. A paper has been submitted to the authorities. The solution will have to come from the ministry of defence, with implementable rules.

In case of any errors, am happy to stand corrected. Please mail editor giving details of error and source documents to prove error.

Author Nidhi  is wife of a Veteran and social media activist.

Also read

1. Facilities to Veer Naris and their children

2. How much do kin get

3. What are the next of kin rules in the Armed Forces?