The Chief Minister's Office of Uttarakhand on Saturday, 25 July 2026 shared remarks by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami welcoming the increase in the national defence budget and reaffirming the state government's commitment to soldier welfare, including a hike in the ex-gratia amount paid to families of martyred soldiers.

Context

Quoting CM Dhami directly, the post stated: 'Aaj desh ka raksha budget badha hai. Sainikon ka samman hamari sarvochch prathamikta hai.' ('Today the country's defence budget has increased. Honouring soldiers is our highest priority.'). The remarks come against the backdrop of the Union Budget 2026, which included a revised upward allocation for defence expenditure covering armed forces modernisation, salaries, and operational requirements.

Uttarakhand has one of the highest per-capita representations in the Indian armed forces among all Indian states. The state's political leadership has historically used central budget announcements as occasions to reinforce parallel state-level welfare commitments to serving personnel and veterans.

Policy Backdrop

State governments across India maintain their own ex-gratia schemes for next-of-kin of soldiers killed in action, which supplement benefits provided by the central government. The One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme, implemented at the national level in 2015, standardised pension benefits for retired armed forces personnel, but state-level ex-gratia payments for martyrs remain a distinct and significant component of the overall welfare architecture.

CM Dhami's government has now revised the ex-gratia amount payable to families of martyred soldiers upward, though the specific quantum of the revised figure was not disclosed in the post. The move is consistent with a broader pattern in which states with large armed forces recruitment bases — Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and others — periodically enhance their own financial assistance to align with rising costs and central policy signals.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of the revised ex-gratia are the families of martyred soldiers from Uttarakhand. The state's 'veer bhoomi' ('land of the brave') identity means a substantial portion of its rural population has direct familial ties to the armed forces, making such welfare revisions politically and socially significant.

Serving personnel from the state also stand to benefit indirectly, as the announcement signals continued state-level attention to military welfare beyond what the central government provides. Veterans' associations and district-level sainik boards are expected to be key channels for disbursement of revised benefits.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to the rollout of the revised ex-gratia payments at the district level across Uttarakhand, and to whether the state's next budget session will include further welfare measures for veterans and their dependants. Observers will also watch for a formal government order specifying the revised ex-gratia quantum, which would provide the precise details absent from the current announcement.

With national security spending on an upward trajectory, state governments in high-recruitment regions are likely to face continued pressure — and political incentive — to keep pace with enhanced central commitments to armed forces personnel.