"BJP Misguiding People": Ashok Gehlot Over Pulwama Widows' Protest

Ashok Gehlot said that under the package the martyrs' families are allotted land and housing, schools are named after martyrs, and jobs are kept reserved for their children.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday defended the benefits reserved for the martyrs' families under a state scheme saying that the BJP leaders are misguiding the people and maligning the image of Rajasthan.

"The kind of package given by the Rajasthan government to the war widows, be it of the Pulwama, Balakot, or Kargil, doesn't exist anywhere in the country. I had brought the package when I was chief minister around 25 years back," Mr Gehlot told reporters after attending a programme.

He said that under the package the martyrs' families are allotted land and housing, schools are named after martyrs, and jobs are kept reserved for their children.

The Chief Minister's remarks came on the heels of a protest being waged by three war widows, who have been demanding a change in rules so that their relatives and not just children can get government jobs on compassionate grounds.