Know what is Armed Forces Flag Day Fund; How you can contribute?

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday appealed to the citizens to generously contribute to the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund (AFFDF). Armed Forces Flag Day is observed on December 07 every year throughout the country to honour the fallen heroes and men in uniform who bravely fought for our motherland. On this day, Army, Navy and Air Force personnel who sacrificed their lives for the cause of the nation are remembered by observing two-minute silence at 1100 hours as a mark of respect.

Armed Forces Flag Day Fund is used in the rehabilitation and welfare of dependents of our brave soldiers who were killed in action or disabled. "Out of the income earned on the AFFDF corpus, 7.5 percent is ploughed back into the corpus and balance is used to fund the welfare and rehabilitation schemes for Ex-Servicemen (ESM)/dependents. Rupees 133.21 crores were spent on 38,049 beneficiaries under the AFFDF in FY 2020-21" an official statement issued by the Defence Ministry said.

How to contribute to Armed Forces Flag Day Fund

If you are willing to make a contribution to the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund then the following are the bank accounts for your assistance. The Flag Day fund gives us an opportunity to fulfil our obligation towards our Armed Forces.

PNB A/C No. 3083000100179875         IFSC: PUNB0308300
SBI A/C No. 34420400623                     IFSC: SBIN0001076
ICICI A/C No. 182401001380                IFSC: ICIC0001824

A sum of Rs 33.35 crore was collected in the AFFDF during Financial Year (FY) 2020-21.

The Fund is administered by the Kendriya Sainik Board (KSB) Secretariat under the aegis of its Management Committee, headed by the Defence Minister and Executive Committee headed by Secretary, Ex-Servicemen Welfare (ESW). The KSB Secretariat, an attached office under the administrative control of the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare, Ministry of Defence (MoD), is the apex body responsible for implementing Central Government policies for rehabilitation and welfare of the war widows/disabled, retired service personnel and their dependents.  The welfare schemes are implemented through Rajya Sainik Boards (RSBs) located in State capitals and Zila Sainik Boards (ZSBs) located at the district level. The major source of funding for these welfare schemes is Armed Forces Flag Day Fund.

Financial assistance is provided to ESM/widows/dependents for their personal identified needs including penury grant, children's education grant, daughter's marriage grants and funeral grant. Also, welfare schemes like Raksha Mantri's Ex-servicemen Welfare Fund (RMEWF), Financial Assistance for Serious Diseases, Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centres (PRCs) and War Memorial Hostels (WMHs) are funded out of AFFDF.

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