KC Tyagi urges PM Modi to provide monthly pension to anti-Emergency activists

New Delhi, Jul 25 (PTI) Weeks after the government announced the commemoration of the Emergency’s anniversary as ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’, JD(U) leader K C Tyagi on Thursday demanded that anti-Emergency activists jailed during the period be recognised and financially supported.

Lauding the government’s move, he said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the official notification pays tributes to the deceased leaders known for their struggle during the period but makes no mention of providing justice to the activists who are alive.

Tyagi said the then prime minister Indira Gandhi had imposed the Emergency in 1975 to save her chair and the fight against it was often described as the second struggle of freedom.

He said the anti-Emergency activists should be officially recognised and paid a monthly pension of Rs 50,000.

Many states, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and several other Hindi-speaking states, financially recognise them, but the activists in south and northeast India have been deprived of any benefits, he added.

Tyagi said at least one member of their families should be given a job and they should be provided health insurance facilities too.

On July 12, the government announced that June 25, the day the Emergency was declared in 1975, would be observed as ‘Samvidhan Hatya Diwas’ to commemorate the “massive contributions” of those who endured the inhuman pains of the period.