Govt to give land, house to Major Manoj's family

Thiruvananthapuram: The LDF government in Kerala Wednesday decided to allot a piece of land and a house to the family of Major Manoj Kumar, who was among those killed in the central ammunition depot fire in Maharashtra recently.

The Thiruvananthapuram District collector was asked to take steps to identify a 1,200 sqft house and five cents of land (around 2170 sqft) for the family of the major, who hailed from the state, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a press release here.

The decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet which also cleared a monthly pension of Rs 5,000 to his parents.

The state government will request the central government to give a job to Major Manoj's widow based on her educational qualification.

If this request was turned down, she would be provided a job in the state government, the release said.

At least 19 Army personnel were killed in the massive blaze in the depot in Pulgaon on May 31.