Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will meet the family members of Army and paramilitary personnel who have lost their lives in the line of duty in Bhind and Morena on 14 August to observe ‘Shahid Samman Divas’ and will hand over Rs 1 crore to each family.

Union ministers, MPs, state ministers, MLAs, chairmen and vice-chairmen of corporations and boards, mayors, zila panchayat presidents, chairmen of municipalities and other public representatives along with senior IAS, IPS and SAS officers will also honour the martyrs families members. Altogether  568 Army, Air Force, Navy, paramilitary forces and MP police forces martyrs’ kin will be honoured by the Madhya Pradesh government on 14 August a day before Independence Day. Chouhan has appealed to all ministers, BJP MPs and MLAs and officers to visit martyrs’ homes in their respective areas.

“After independence, those martyrs of the state who sacrificed their life in 1962 China-India, 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars, Kargil war, anti-naxal and anti-terrorist operations, while maintaining law and order, during anti-dacoit and anti-illegal mining operations will be included for the ‘Shahid Samman Divas’. It is a remarkable initiative that has been taken by the MP chief minister to honour the Veer Nari, Veer Mata and other family members of martyrs,” said A K S Palwakar, retired Navy captain and sainik welfare officer of Gwalior.

Chouhan will go to Bhind and Porsa town of Morena district where he will honour the family members of CRPF martyrs Jitendra Singh Kushwah and Ramkrishna Singh Tomar with a Rs 1 crore award, shawl and Shriphal.

During the Jan Ashirwad Yatra in Bhind on 28 July, Chouhan had made an announcement to observe ‘Shahid Samman Divas’ (SSD) on 14 August in the entire state. His initiative is obviously with an  eye on the Assembly polls slated for this year-end and that he made the announcement in Bhind, a district where every household has at least one member serving in the Indian Army and other forces, holds a lot of significance. Bhind has the highest number of 81 martyrs, 16 gallantry awardees and 25,000 soldiers serving on the borders of the country.

“Union minister and MP from Gwalior, Narendra Singh Tomar will meet the Shourya Chakra winner martyr Kalyan Singh Tomar’s widow Shilu Tomar to honour her on this occasion. MP Chief secretary, Basant Pratap Singh, DGP Rishi Kumar Shukla are likely to be come to Gwalior to honour the martyrs’ kin,” said Ashok Kumar Verma, collector of Gwalior.

MP ministers Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya, Narottam Mishra, Maya Singh, Rustam Singh, Narayan Singh Kushwaha and Lal Singh Arya along with the respective local officers will also go to martyrs homes.