DW BUREAU / PATIALA Preenet Kaur MP from Patiala, met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday and handed over a letter listing the demands of war veterans and apprised him of the need and importance of the Yudh Samman Yojna scheme for the war veterans of the 1965/71 war against Pakistan. She urged the Union Defence Minister that the scheme be implemented by December 16 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the '71 war and liberation of Bangladesh. Preneet Kaur urged Rajnath Singh to accept the demand of the All-India Short Service Commissioned officers for grant of a monthly pension of Rs 30,000 with dearness allowance to the war veterans. Preneet Kaur, who is a former Minister of State for External Affairs, had earlier last week sent a letter to the Defence Minister stating that a deputation of released Emergency and Short Service Commissioned officers had met her and apprised her about their demands. She said that they had stated that a proposal by Army Headquarters had been sent to the Defence Ministry in October, 2020, to honour the war veterans of the 1965/1971 by recognizing their services under the Yudh Samman Yojna Scheme. The note states that a delegation of the Short Service Commissioned officers had met the Defence Minister on October 4, 2020. Comments by CDS General Bipin Rawat had already been sent as the Union government had accepted this scheme in principle. Papers were presently in the Defence Ministry and needed clearance by the Defence Minister. A total of 414 EC/SSC officers had sent their details to the Army Headquarters but with the Covid epidemic some officers lost their lives and today there were only 385 officers left. This is a diminishing pension account and presently all EC/SSC officers were in the 78-85+ age group. (editor@dailyworld.in)