The cabinet also decided that in case of the death of individuals getting pension for going to prison during the Emergency, their surviving spouse will be given half the amount of the monthly honorarium.
Mumbai: The Maharashtra cabinet on Tuesday approved the proposal to double the pension given to the people who were imprisoned during the Emergency imposed in 1975. The pension scheme introduced by the BJP government in 2018 was scrapped by the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in 2020 and restored in 2022 by the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government.
The cabinet also decided that in case of the death of individuals getting pension for going to prison during the Emergency, their surviving spouse will be given half the amount of the monthly honorarium. It scrapped the earlier condition that the applicant must have been at least 18 years old at the time of arrest during the Emergency.
At present, there are around 3,000 beneficiaries of the scheme in the state. As per the revised policy, individuals who were imprisoned for more than one month during the Emergency will now receive Rs 20,000 per month, while their surviving spouse will be eligible for Rs 10,000 per month. Those who were jailed for less than a month will receive Rs 10,000 per month, while their surviving spouse will get Rs 5,000.
“In order to claim the honorarium, the surviving spouses must submit a fresh application to the respective District Collector offices. If the Emergency-era detainees passed away before January 2, 2018, their surviving spouse can still apply by submitting an affidavit along with the application,” the chief minister’s office (CMO) said in a statement.
The decisions were taken a week ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, which was imposed by the then Indira Gandhi government from June 25, 1975 and it lasted for 21 months till March 21, 1977. It is remembered for widespread restriction of civil liberties and press freedom, mass arrests of political opponents and cancellation of elections.
During Mr. Fadnavis’s first term as the chief minister, the Maharashtra government had introduced “Gaurav Yojana” in 2018 to provide a monthly honorarium to people imprisoned during the Emergency in order to recognise their “sacrifices”. From its launch, the scheme became a major political debate with the Congress and its allies calling it politically motivated. The Congress backed MVA government, which was led by Uddhav Thackeray, had scrapped the scheme in 2020. However, the scheme was revived soon after the BJP backed Eknath Shinde government came into power in 2022.
