Parliament remembers freedom fighters on Quit India anniversary

In the Rajya Sabha, Chairman Hamid Ansari termed it as a historic day and a reminder to cherish the gift of freedom. “The day exhorts us to draw inspiration from the words and deeds of our freedom fighters to unitedly face the challenges of the changing times and do our bit to ensure inclusive economic development and growth for all strata of society and realise the long cherished dream of a fully developed India,” he said. 

“The day is a reminder to re-affirm our commitment to uphold the sovereignty, integrity, unity and diversity of our country,” added Ansari, who is the Vice President of the country. “The clarion call of do or die by Mahatma Gandhi led to an upsurge of nationalistic sentiments and heralded the attainment of Independence,” he added. In the Lok Sabha, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said ‘Quit India Movement’ had helped bring the whole nation together against the British rule and was a major contribution towards the country achieving freedom. As a mark of respect to the freedom fighters, members in both Houses also stood in silence for a brief while.

Government is considering raising the compensation amount for families of security personnel and civilians killed in extremist violence, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday. During Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, Singh said he was of the view that the compensation should be increased and a proposal in this regard would be taken up through the Union Cabinet. He said the government is considering to increase the compensation for security personnel and civilians killed in extremist violence. There is already a scheme for providing assistance to civilian victims of terrorist/communal/naxal violence under which Rs 3 lakh financial assistance is given for death or permanent incapacitation to the family of civilian victims. This is subject to the condition that no employment has been provided to any of the family members of the victim. State governments have their own compensation policy for the families of civilians and state police killed in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) violence, Singh said.