Denied pension, widow says Tamra Patra of no use

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 3

Having visited government offices for 15 years to get her freedom fighters’ pension restored, a visually impaired widow has now expressed her desire to return her husband’s Tamra Patra to the government.

Seeto, the widow of Bhaga, says the Tamra Patra that was awarded to her husband by the then PM Indira Gandhi in August 1972, was of no use to her. “My husband, who worked with Subhash Chander Bose and served a jail term, kept getting pension till his death in 2002. Ever since, I have been running from one government office to the other to get the pension restored,” she says.

A resident of Sarin village near here, Seeto lost her two sons about four years ago and now lives with her daughter Sunita, who works as a domestic help to feed her four children. “I have taken my mother to the DCoffice and several offices in Chandigarh and even in Delhi. They keep saying that they are moving the file, but nothing has happened on ground,” says Sunita, who today met Chairman of the Punjab SC Commission Rajesh Bagha along with her mother.

Notice to govt

Rajesh Bagha, Chairman, State SC Commission, has issued a notice to the state on the matter. He said: “I am appalled at the condition of the woman. She has no vision, no income and has lost her husband and two sons. The government should to come to her aid. She can be provided land for cultivation or allotted a petrol pump. I even intend to send her case to the PMO.”