When India was freed of the British Raj 60 years back, none of our leaders may have even thought that they would have to deal with the problem of fake freedom fighters.
The fake freedom fighter menace has grown to such heights that on one occasion the Supreme Court too had to step in and direct state governments to deal with the problem with an iron fist.
Karnataka too has its share of problems regarding this issue, with the government till date paying a pension to at least 700 fake freedom fighters in the state.
It has become a racket, says a senior police officer. They produce fake certificates and claim the benefit. However, we are dealing with the matter and will rectify the problem, the officer adds.
Karnataka at present has 11,411 freedom fighters who continue to avail the pension scheme. Recently, the government had cancelled the scheme for 500 fake freedom fighters that were identified after detailed investigation.
Police say that it is a lucrative business as the freedom fighter gets a pension of Rs 10,001 along with perks from both the Central and state governments.
Under the Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension scheme, instituted in 1972, a person who has been in jail during the freedom struggle for more than six months, is eligible to get a pension of Rs 10,001 per month.
At present the central government gives pension to 1.7 lakh freedom fighters across the country.
The Karnataka police say that the problem is most rampant in the states of Bihar and Maharashtra.
They say that in Karnataka the problem was quite bad a few years back, but now the number of fake freedom fighters has come down drastically.
The Department of Personnel Administrative Reforms in Bangalore says that these fake fighters claim that they had been jailed during the Independence struggle.
However, investigations reveal that most of these persons had gone to jail after Independence after being held guilty in various crimes.
Interestingly, the police have found that there are cases in which persons born in 1946 have claimed pension under the freedom fighters scheme.
A person applying for a freedom fighters pension would have to produce documents of his arrest or a certificate from the court which states that he/she had gone to jail in connection with the freedom struggle.
The general secretary to All India Freedom Fighters' Committee N Mathad says that there are several persons who claim this benefit and many of them are fake.
