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War
widows: Tax their pension? India - Had the Ministry of
Finance cleared the proposal of making the pension of Army widows tax
free, it would have provided much needed respite to thousands of army
widows trying to make ends meet. However, the Ministry rejected the
proposal sent to them by Army Headquarters. The proposal was primarily to
provide war widows and those whose husbands died in counter-insurgency
operations and in border areas. Col D.S. Cheema, (retd), says,
‘‘The pension of all retired officers of the three forces should be
made tax free. Government has made concessions at one or the other point
to others, so why not soldiers? It is a genuine demand and there should be
a feeling of empathy towards ex-armymen.’’ Maj Gen Gurdayal Singh (retd),
says, ‘‘The criterion of this proposal has to be clarified first.
Those who don’t have any alternative source of income would anyway not
come under any tax bracket. So, we have to study the finer details before
giving a final word.’’ ‘‘This is a kind of demand
made by everybody,’’ says Brig W.S. Sodhi (retd). ‘‘The pension of
war widows should be increased. Making their income tax free is no
solution or else everybody will start demanding it,’’ he added. The entire taxation system is
warped, opines Lt Col K.S. Ludra (retd). ‘‘Men in uniform never get
their due. Once a soldier loses his life, it affects many around him.
Making the war widows pension tax free is a token of gesture for the
soldiers’ sacrifice and their fraternity.’’ ‘‘If Sachin Tendulkar’s Ferarri can be made tax free, then why shouldn’t war widows get this small benefit,’’ remarks Brig. P.K. Sinha (retd). Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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