Patna, Jan. 11: RJD chief Lalu Prasad will get monthly pension of Rs 10,000 under the JP Senani Samman scheme for veterans of Jayaprakash Narayan's "total revolution" in the '70s.

"Roughly 2,500 persons are getting pension under this scheme," home department principal secretary Amir Subhani told The Telegraph today. "It is in two categories: Persons who underwent jail for less than six months get Rs 5,000 per month and those who were detained for more than six months get Rs 10,000."

Subhani confirmed that pension would be given to Lalu who had applied for it, but said he would have to check who are the other leaders shortlisted.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar had mooted the scheme in 2009 to give economic and other benefits to those who participated in the JP agitation, similar to the pension given to freedom fighters.

The scheme had met with strong resistance from the Congress that maintained that it was wrong to equate the JP agitation with the freedom struggle. The scheme also ran into rough weather because there were too many claimants.

Ultimately the government formed a committee which scrutinised applications and confirmed the claims by checking jail registers.

The announcement of pension has come at a time when the state is struggling with its finances and payment of salaries to teachers and pensions to senior citizens and widows are pending.

Bihar was the epicentre of the agitation - which JP called sampoorn kranti (total revolution) - against Indira Gandhi's government. Most leading politicians of today took part. Lalu, the Patna University Students Union president then, was arrested after Mrs Gandhi clamped Emergency under Misa (Maintenance of Internal Security Act), which has since then been scrapped and from which Lalu's eldest daughter got her name. BJP's Sushil Modi, former minister Narendra Singh, former MP Shivanand Tiwari and many others including Nitish himself were jailed.