Kamla Devi, mother of rifleman Rinku Ram who went missing, could not be granted ordinary family pension as the family income of the claimant exceeded the prescribed income criteria. Rinku Ram went missing while patrolling along the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh in 2009. The mother finally got the pension sanctioned after her battle of more than seven years.
- Rinku Ram fell into a raging river while patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) along China border in Arunachal Pradesh where his body was never found in November 2009. When Rinku’s mother approached the Air Force Tribunal for her son’s pension, she was told that pension belonged to the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, and can only be released after his dead body was found.
Under the provisions of the Indian Evidence Act, a person who is missing for more than seven years may be presumed dead. This means that Rinku Ram could now be declared dead since he had been missing for seven years. On April 4, the Government of Arunachal Pradesh issued the death certificate of Rinku Ram.
The MoD said, she will also get deathcum-retirement gratuity of Rs 86,106 and Rs 10 lakh ex gratia. He further added, there are some factual errors in the statement and we are withdrawing it.
