Parliament Question: Swatantrata Sainik Samman Yojana

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 254 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 22ND JULY, 2025/ ASHADHA 13, 1947 (SAKA) SWATANTRATA SAINIK SAMMAN YOJANA 254. SHRI GURMEET SINGH MEET HAYER: Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state: (a) the details and total number of freedom fighters who have received a Central pension under the Swatantrata Sainik Samman Yojana (SSSY) till date, State-wise data; (b) the number of these pensioners who are still alive and their distribution, State-wise; (c) the number of widows of freedom fighters who are currently receiving a family pension and the number who are still alive, State-wise; (d) the eligibility criteria for a family pension under this scheme and the eligibility criteria for the dependents; (e) the total amount of funds allocated and disbursed for the scheme during the last five years, year-wise and State-wise; and (f) whether there is a central repository where details of all freedom fighters and their contributions can be accessed by the public, if not, the reasons for not creating such a database? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI BANDI SANJAY KUMAR) (a): There are 171689 Freedom Fighters who received a Central pension under the Swatantrata Sainik Samman Yojana (SSSY) till date, state-wise data is enclosed at Annexure-I.-2- L.S.US.Q.NO. 254 FOR 22.07.2025 (b): There are 13212 pensioners who are still alive and receiving SSSY Samman pension. State-wise data is given at Annexure-II; (c): There are 9778 widows (spouse) who are still alive and are receiving SSSY Samman pension. State-wise data is given at Annexure- III. (d): The eligibility criteria for a family pension and for the dependents under this scheme is given at Annexure –IV. (e): The total funds allotted and disbursed for the scheme during the last five years is as under : S.No. Year Budget allotted Fund Disbursed (in crore) (in crore) 1 2020-21 Rs.760 660.14 2 2021-22 Rs.717 717 3 2022-23 Rs.650 599.29 4 2023-24 Rs.589 539.67 5 2024-25 Rs.600 599.29-3- L.S.US.Q.NO. 254 FOR 22.07.2025 However, State-wise disbursement of fund on account of Swatantrata Sainik Samman Yojana is not maintained by this Ministry. (f): Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), New Delhi which is an autonomous body of M/o Human Resource Development, Govt. of India maintain the list of freedom fighters/martyrs of India freedom struggle under a project entitled “Dictionary of Martyrs : Indian Freedom Struggle (1857-1947)”. ******Annexure ‘I’ LS.US.Q.NO.254 FOR 22.07.2025 TOTAL NUMBER OF FREEDOM FIGHTERS WHO HAVE RECEIVED CENTRAL PENSION UNDER THE SWATANTRATA SAINIK SAMMAN YOJANA TILL DATE. S.No. Name of State/Union Territory Number of freedom fighters/their eligible dependents who have been sanctioned pension 1 Andhra Pradesh 2 Telangana 15286 3 4442 Assam 4 Bihar & 5 24905 Jharkhand 6 1508 Goa 7 3599 Gujrat 8 1692 Haryana 9 633 Himachal Pradesh 10 1807 Jammu & Kashmir 11 10105 Karnataka 12 3429 Kerala 13 Madhya Pradesh & 14 3488 Chhattisgarh 15 17974 Maharashtra 16 63 Manipur 17 86 Meghalaya 18 4 Mizoram19 3 Nagaland 20 4197 Odisha 21 7042 Punjab 22 814 Rajasthan 23 4147 Tamil Nadu 24 888 Tripura 25 18004 Uttar Pradesh & 26 Uttrakhand 27 22523 West Bengal 28 3 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 29 91 Chandigarh 30 83 Dadra & Nagar Haveli 31 33 Daman & Diu 32 2048 NCT of Delhi 33 320 Puducherry 34 22472 Indian National Army (INA) 171689 Total *****Annexure ‘II’ LS.US.Q.NO.254 FOR 22.07.2025 TOTAL NUMBER OF PENSIONERS WHO ARE STILL ALIVE AND THEIR STATEWISE DISTRIBUTIONS. Sl.No. State Number of Central Freedom fighter pensioners (Freedom fighter/Spouse/Daughter) 1 ANDAMAN & NICOBAR 1 2 ANDHRA PRADESH 232 3 ASSAM 302 4 BIHAR 988 5 CHANDIGARH 9 6 CHHATTISGARH 24 7 DAMAN & DIU 10 8 DELHI 109 9 GOA 406 10 GUJARAT 123 11 HARYANA 232 12 HIMACHAL PRADESH 243 13 JAMMU & KASHMIR 355 14 JHARKHAND 84 15 KARNATAKA 758 16 KERALA 602 17 MADHYA PRADESH 123 18 MAHARASHTRA 1543 19 MANIPUR 9 20 MEGHALAYA 7 21 MIZORAM 1 22 NAGALAND 0 23 ODISHA 239 24 PUDUCHERRY 51 25 PUNJAB 382 26 RAJASTHAN 106 27 TAMIL NADU 801 28 TELANGANA 3017 29 TRIPURA 91 30 UTTAR PRADESH 387 31 UTTARAKHAND 178 32 WEST BENGAL 1799 Grand Total 13212 *****Annexure ‘III’ LS.US.Q.NO.254 FOR 22.07.2025 STATEWISE LIST OF TOTAL NUMBER OF WIDOWS/SPOUSE WHO ARE STILL ALIVE AND DRAWING PENSION UNDER SWATANTRATA SAINIK SAMMAN YOJANA. S.No. State Number of dependent Spouse/Widows /Daughters pensioners 1 ANDAMAN & NICOBAR 1 2 ANDHRA PRADESH 180 3 ASSAM 177 4 BIHAR 693 5 CHANDIGARH 8 6 CHHATTISGARH 19 7 DAMAN & DIU 6 8 DELHI 81 9 GOA 304 10 GUJARAT 81 11 HARYANA 198 12 HIMACHAL PRADESH 199 13 JAMMU & KASHMIR 252 14 JHARKHAND 68 15 KARNATAKA 588 16 KERALA 483 17 MADHYA PRADESH 91 18 MAHARASHTRA 1274 19 MANIPUR 4 20 MEGHALAYA 4 21 MIZORAM 0 22 NAGALAND 0 23 ODISHA 198 24 PUDUCHERRY 35 25 PUNJAB 274 26 RAJASTHAN 101 27 TAMIL NADU 660 28 TELANGANA 2165 29 TRIPURA 56 30 UTTAR PRADESH 314 31 UTTARAKHAND 169 32 WEST BENGAL 1095 Total 9778 ****Annexure-IV LS.US.Q.NO.254 FOR 22.07.2025 ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR GRANT OF PENSION TO FREEDOM FIGHTERS UNDER CENTRAL SWATANTRATA SAINIK SAMMAN PENSION SCHEME, 1980 1. A person who had suffered a minimum imprisonment of six months in mainland jails before Independence. Ex-INA personnel are also eligible for pension if the imprisonment/detention suffered by them was outside India for six months or more. In case of women and SC/ST freedom fighters, the minimum period of actual imprisonment for eligibility of pension is three months. 2. A person who remained underground for six months or more provided he was:- i. A proclaimed offender; ii. One on whom an award for arrest/head was announced, or iii.One whose detention order was issued but not served. 3. A person who was interned in his home or externed from his district under the orders of the competent authority for six months or more. 4. A person whose property was confiscated or attached and sold due to participation in the National Freedom Struggle. 5. A person who was permanently incapacitated during firing or lathi charge.Annexure-IV LS.US.Q.NO.254 FOR 22.07.2025 6. A person who lost his Government job (including job in a local body) for participation in the National Freedom Struggle. 7. To become eligible for pension an applicant has to submit documentary evidence duly verified by the State Govt. along with their recommendation as per the following details:- IN CASE OF IMPRISONMENT:- (a) Imprisonment/detention certificate from the concerned jail authority, District Magistrate or the State Govt. indicating the period of sentence awarded, date of admission, date of release, facts of the case and reasons for release. (b) In case of records of the relevant period are not available, the secondary evidences in the form of 2 co-prisoner certificates (CPC) from freedom fighters who have proven jail suffering of minimum 1 year and who were with the applicant in the jail could be considered provided the State Government/Union Territory Administration concerned, after due verification of the claim and its genuineness, certifies that documentary evidences from the official records in support of the claimed sufferings were not available. In case the certifier happens to be a sitting or Ex. M.P./M.L.A., only one certificate in place of the two is required.Annexure-IV LS.US.Q.NO.254 FOR 22.07.2025 IN CASE OF UNDERGROUND SUFFERING:- (a) Documentary evidence by way of Court’s/Govt’s order proclaiming the applicant as an absconder, announcing an award on his head or for his arrest or ordering his detention. (b) In case records of the relevant period are not available, secondary evidence in the form of a Personal Knowledge Certificate (PKC) from a prominent freedom fighter who has proven jail suffering of a minimum two years and who happened to be from the same administrative unit could be considered provided the State Government/Union Territory Administration concerned, after due verification of the claim and its genuineness, certifies that documentary evidences from the official records in support of the claimed sufferings were not available. IN CASE OF INTERNMENT/EXTERNMENT:- A person who, on account of participation in the freedom struggle, was interned in his home or externed from his district for a minimum period of 6 months is eligible subject to furnishing of order of internment or externment issued by the competent authority, from official records. In absence of the official records, Non-availability of Records Certificate (NARC) from the concerned authorities along with a certificate fromAnnexure-IV LS.US.Q.NO.254 FOR 22.07.2025 prominent freedom fighters who had themselves undergone suffering of imprisonment for two years or more. IN CASE OF LOSS OF PROPERTY:- A person whose property was confiscated or attached and sold due to participation in the freedom struggle is eligible subject to furnishing of orders of confiscation and sale of property, provided that the persons whose property was restored are not eligible for Samman Pension. IN CASE OF PERMANENT INCAPACITATION:- (a) Certificate from the District Magistrate stating that permanent incapacitation was done by bullet injury/lathi charge sustained during participation in the National freedom Struggle and (b) Medical certificate from the Civil Surgeon in support of the handicap. IN CASE OF LOSS OF GOVERNMENT JOB:- A person who lost his Govt. job for participation in freedom struggle is eligible subject to furnishing of orders of dismissal or removal from service. However, persons who were reinstated in service before expiry ofAnnexure-IV LS.US.Q.NO.254 FOR 22.07.2025 two years from their dismissal or removal from service and were in receipt of benefits or pay and allowances are not eligible for pension. IN CASE OF CANING/FLOGGING/WHIPPING:- A person who was awarded the punishment of 10 strokes of caning/flogging/whipping due to his participation in freedom struggle is eligible subject to furnishing of copies of orders passed by the competent authority from official records. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR A FAMILY PENSION AND FOR THE DEPENDENTS UNDER THE SCHEMES For the purpose of grant of Samman pension, family, after death of a freedom fighter pensioner, family pension is granted to his/her spouse and after death of the spouse their unmarried daughters (upto maximum of three such daughters), mother or father are granted dependent family pension. *****