The Ministry of Defence says it has made necessary arrangements to pay stipends to disabled tri-forces personnel who retire from the service on medical grounds due to disabilities caused during the terrorist war until the age of 55 years and thereafter for the lifetime of the serviceman and his widow.

However, as per the existing procedures, if a disabled serviceperson dies before reaching the age of 55, a medical board must confirm that the cause of death is a direct result of the disability of the relevant serviceperson, for the widow to be entitled to the aforementioned stipend.

If a disabled serviceperson dies from any other cause where the medical board cannot confirm that the death was caused as a direct result of the disability, the widow can only be entitled to the Widow’s and Orphan’s Pension, the ministry said further in a statement.

Owing to this, the Defence Ministry says it has received a significant number of requests from affected widows urging that the allowance and salary be continued to be paid to them.

Taking into account these requests, the ministry says it has taken steps to obtain the Cabinet approval for providing relief to them.

Thus, the ministry urged retired disabled servicepersons and their family members not to have any undue fears, adding that it has observed the attempts of certain groups to create confusion about the matter.

The Defence Ministry vowed to take all measures to ensure the welfare of retired tri-forces personnel and their families in the future as well.