“Those who fought for independence receive an allowance as provided for in the law but the government has no plan to provide them with extra support,” U Ye Htut told Mizzima in a telephone interview.

He was responding to claims that the government is not doing enough to support former members of the Burma Independence Army, Burma Defence Army and Patriotic Burmese Forces.

Those who served in all three organisations are classified as first grade veterans, those who served in two as second grade veterans and those who served in one as third grade veterans. Their  classification as first, second or third grade veterans determines the allowances and special monetary awards they receive. First grade veterans receive a monthly allowance of 750 kyats.

Among those calling on the government to provide extra support is Daw Tin Ye, the widow of first grade veteran U Tin, who died in 1991 aged 86.

Daw Tin Ye told Mizzima that militia members who fought for independence together with General Aung San had been forgotten by the government and the people.

Only senior officers had enjoyed luxurious lives and most of the soldiers who fought against the British and the Japanese had been poor, Daw Tin Ye said, adding that she had never received the allowance provided by the nation.

She also criticized the allowances and special monetary awards, saying they did not take inflation into account.

“We never received any help from any ex-servicemen’s organization when my husband was alive,” said Daw Tin Ye. “No one ever came to provide support after my husband was hospitalized,” she said.

Daw Tin Ye, who does not have a home of her own and lives with a son, said her husband was 28th on a list of 220 independence struggle veterans, who received government support. The late General Ne Win was also on the list, she said.

Her comments follow a claim last week that the government had not provided enough support for members of the Thirty Comrades, who were trained by the Japanese to fight the Allied forces during World War II but later changed sides.

The accusation, denied by the government, was made by U Kyaw Kyaw, whose father was Bo Ye Htut, the last surviving member of the Thirty Comrades who died on November 27 – National Day – at the age of 91.

“The honorable soldiers who fought for independence were classified as first grade, second grade and third grade and some of those who had the title ‘thakin’ [lord] were not always listed as first grade veterans,” U Kyaw Kyaw said.

“The government should support those honorable soldiers; or at least it should have a program for supporting those who are too poor to support themselves,” U Kyaw Kyaw said.

In response to a question in the Amothya Hluttaw on October 28, President’s Office Minister U Soe Maung said the government had no plan to raise the allowances paid to veterans of the independence struggle. U Soe Maung added that since 1993 the allowance paid to first grade veterans was 750 kyats a month and second grade veterans received 375 kyats a month.