Armed Forces Flag Day will be observed all over the country on 07th December 2020 like previous years. Since 1949, the day is observed to honour the martyrs as well as men and women in uniform, who valiantly fight on our borders to safeguard the country’s honour. Speaking at a function organized in New Delhi on 2nd December 2020, for the customary launch of the Armed Forces Flag pinning, Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh urged countrymen to voluntarily contribute to AFFD Fund. Hesaid our forces have always been fighting valiantly to safe guard the sovereignty of the country. In the process sometimes, they have even laid down their lives, leaving behind their families or were rendered disabled. “Hence the rehabilitation and welfare of our Ex Servicemen, the next of kin of our martyrs and our disabled soldiers is the responsibility of all citizens” Raksha Mantri said. “The Flag Day provides us an opportunity to fulfill this responsibility by contributing to the AFFD fund” he added. Noting that over 47 crore rupees were raised during 2019-20 through voluntary contributions of people, Rajnath Singh expressed hope that “people of India will manifest the same spirit of voluntary contributions this year too.”
AFFD fund is used for the rehabilitation and welfare of next of kin of those soldiers who laid their lives in the line of duty, or were rendered disabled, old, non-pensioners, widows and orphaned children. They are given financial assistance through various schemes like penury grant, education grant, widow/daughter marriage grant, disabled children grant, medical grant, house repair grant, funeral grant, orphan grant and some other grants.
The ‘Armed forces Flag Day Fund’ (AFFDF) has been constituted by the Government of India for the welfare and rehabilitation of the Ex-Servicemen (ESM) community. There are more than 32 lakh ESM and around 60,000 ESM are added every year due to early superannuation.
Contributions to Armed forces Flag Day Fund can be remitted through bank accounts. The details are as follows: i) Punjab National Bank (A/c No. 3083000100179875 IFSC Code PUNB308300, Branch Sewa Bhawan, RK Puram); (ii) State Bank of India (A/c No. 34420400623, IFSC Code SBIN0001076 Branch RK Puram) and (iii) ICICI Bank A/c No. 182401001380, IFSC Code ICIC0001824 Branch RK Puram)
Contributions to AFFDF are exempted from Income Tax vide Government of India Notification No. 78/2007 dated 26 Mar 07 and under section 80 G (5) (vi) of Income Tax Act 1961 vide Director of Income Tax (E) letter No. NQ.DIT(E)|2010-11/DEL-AE22280-04012011/2186 dated 04 Jan 11.
Corporate contributions to AFFDF are also eligible for fulfilling the CSR obligation under section 135 of Companies Act, 2013 as it adheres to “Measures for the benefit of Armed Forces Veterans, War Widows and their dependents” (Clause VI of Schedule VII of the Companies Act, 2013).
Secretary KendriyaSainik Board, Air Cmdr B. Ahluwaliasaid the month of December this year will be celebrated as “Gaurav Maah” (Pride Month) to honour the contributions of armed forces and its veterans. KSB is the apex body of the Government of India, which formulates policies for rehabilitation and welfare of ex-servicemen and their dependants. The AFFDF is administratively controlled by KSB