By Dr Asha Lal
India’s independence was won through immeasurable sacrifice—millions of ordinary men and women who gave up comfort, family, and sometimes life itself to free the nation. Yet, seventy-eight years later, the descendants of those heroes live largely forgotten, scattered across villages and cities with little state support. The time has come for India to not only acknowledge their contribution symbolically but also recognise them statistically—by counting freedom fighters’ dependants as a distinct category in the upcoming national census.
Across India, many widows, children, and grandchildren of freedom fighters live in poverty and neglect. The government’s ‘Swatantrata Sainik Samman Pension Scheme’ (SSSP) and various state-level pensions were meant to uphold their dignity. In reality, pensions arrive late, records are missing, and countless genuine dependants are excluded due to impossible documentation requirements. Without a clear picture of how many such families exist, where they live, and what their conditions are, policies remain reactive and incomplete.
The neglect begins with invisibility. India does not have a verified count of the living dependants of its freedom fighters. Estimates vary widely, and local administrations rely on decades-old files—often incomplete or damaged. Many families of unsung heroes have never been officially recognised at all. When government schemes or commemorations are planned, these dependants are rarely consulted or even identified. The result is a cycle of neglect, where a lack of data leads to weak policy, and weak policy leads to continued marginalisation.
Including these families as a distinct category in the upcoming Census of India would be a historic corrective step. The census, by design, captures the country’s social, economic, and demographic realities. If freedom fighters’ dependants are counted separately—with subcategories for widows, children, and grandchildren—it would allow policymakers to understand their distribution, income levels, education, and living conditions. This data could form the backbone of a new generation of welfare policies: targeted pensions, medical assistance, educational scholarships, and memorial grants.
Digitising their records and linking them with census data would also solve the persistent problem of missing or forged documents. It would ensure direct benefit transfers, reduce corruption, and help local administrations verify claims without endless paperwork. Moreover, this initiative would honour the moral responsibility India owes to its founding generation—by ensuring their families are no longer invisible in the nation’s official record.
Beyond administration, such a move would be symbolic of national gratitude. Counting freedom fighters’ families separately would send a message that their contribution to India’s freedom is not a relic of history but a living legacy. It would remind the younger generation that independence came at a cost borne not just by the heroes themselves but by the families who supported them through hardship and loss.
The upcoming census is not just a statistical exercise; it is an opportunity to reaffirm our values. If India can count its industries, internet users, and livestock with precision, surely it can count the families who helped win its freedom. This recognition is long overdue.
To truly honour our freedom fighters, the government must move beyond tokenism and establish a permanent place for their families in the national record. Their visibility in the census would not only guide better policy but also restore dignity to those who continue to carry the torch of sacrifice.
A grateful nation must not let the heirs of its freedom remain uncounted, unseen, and unheard. Counting them is the first step toward justice—and remembrance.
(Dr Asha Lal is President – Women Cell – All India Freedoms Fighters’ Samiti & Coordinator, Uttarakhand Akhil Bhartiya Swatantrata Senani evam Shaheed Parivar Kalyan Mahaparishad.)
