Revise family pension: tribunal

Kochi: The regional bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal has opined that the Defence Ministry should consider revision of family pension granted to the dependents of deceased soldiers and ex-servicemen from the present Rs.2,550 a month to �a reasonable amount appropriate to the present conditions.

�The ceiling of income for dependent parents or brothers or sisters to claim family pension was put in 1998. Since then, there has been overall increase in the income level across board throughout the country. Inflation and price rise of essential commodities have affected the common man in an adverse manner,� the Bench comprising former High Court Judge K. Padmanabhan Nair and Lieutenant General (retd.) Thomas Mathew said in a order passed on petitions filed by Cherupushpam Thomas and Seby Francis, mother and brother of a soldier who died while in service. The application for family pension had been turned down on the ground that the petitioners monthly family income was more than Rs.2,550.