AN-32 victims kin to get Rs.35 lakh each as compensation

Thursday, September 7, 2017 
Visakhapatnam

The eight civilian defence employees who had had died in the AN-32 aircraft crash on July 22, 2016, the kin of the victims will get Rs.35 lakh each as ex-gratia.

The then Defence Minister Arun Jaitley in a letter to the MP K.Haribabu said payment of extraordinary pension as per the provisions of the Central Civil Services (Extraordinary Pension) had also been approved and orders have been issued.

The MP had appealed the Defence Minister sought grant of legal heirs special benefits to the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in December 2016 and later to Jaitley in July 2017. Jaitely said that pension payment orders in respect of eight had been issued and family pension, gratuity, arrears of family pension and leave encashment due on account of the Central Government Employees General Insurance Scheme and Seventh Pay Commission had been paid.

It may be recalled that Antony AN-32 twin engine turboprop transport aircraft of IAF disappeared while flying over the Bay of Bengal on July 22, 2016. There were 29 people on board and Radar contact with the aircraft was lost at 9.12am, 280 km east of Chennai. The people on the board included six crew members, 11 IAF personnel, two Indian Army soldiers, one each from Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard and eight defence civilians working with NAD, Visakhapatnam. As many as 16 ships, a submarine and six aircraft were deployed to search for the missing aircraft in the Bay of Bengal. On August 1, it was confirmed that the aircraft had no underwater locator beacon and on September 15, the search and rescue operations was called off and all 29 people were presumed dead.