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Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said donations made to armed forces should be done on a 'voluntary' basis even as he took a dig at the 'extortionist' stance taken by some political parties.
"Its a voluntary donation and, therefore, we are not concerned with anyone demanding something to be donated to this," Parrikar said while inaugurating a naval conference.
He said the Ministry of Defence will continue this ongoing exercise of collecting donations from the citizenry who wish to contribute to an army welfare fund and that it will be a continuous process.
He said the ministry will manage this as a particular scheme of the government similar to that of a flood relief schemes that are being held under the aegis of chief minister.
"It will be an army welfare fund and not a casualty fund. It will be voluntary and there will be no catching of neck," Parrikar reiterated.
Parrikar also asked for an internal verification of facts within his ministry to ascertain if the letter on equivalence of ranks of armed forces compared to the civil services officers have been drafted incorrectly.
Parrikar said he had asked for details of the letter, which was issued on October 18, that stated new rank-equivalence norms.
He said it would be corrected within a week, if errors are found.
He said similar letters of the years 2005 and 2008 would be studied.
“The government is sensitive to issues concerning serving and retired soldiers,” he told reporters.
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