Dependants of jawans killed by Maoists struggle to stay afloat. A report from Orissa by TSI’s Dhrutikam Mohanty
Says Pratima: “While the government has promised to bear the complete cost of my medical treatment, it is painful that people from the department are fraudulently withdrawing money in our name and then trying to recover it from us.”
When the doctor treating her learnt that the police department wasn’t going to bear her expenses anymore, he stopped taking proper care of her. He discharged her even though she had not recovered fully. She continued to receive notices from her department to join back.
At her tether’s end, Pratima met the then Director General of Orissa Police Gopal Nanda as a last resort. He not only waived off her loan but also ordered that she be assigned an office job. She could now see light at the end of the tunnel. But Pratima is still nursing the wound in her leg. It hasn’t healed because of the unseemly haste with which the doctor discharged her from hospital. We ask her how much she has got by way of compensation. She replies: “What compensation are you talking about? I haven't received a single penny.”
Pratima points out that it has taken the government two years to set up a board to prepare a detailed report on those who were injured in that Maoist strike. She adds: “As for my own case, one of the two board members who examined me was the same doctor who discharged me untreated. I, therefore, don’t have must expectations from this board.”
Now meet Jayakrishna Bardhan, a superannuated government employee who resides in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. Though he retired in 2004 he is still does the rounds of government offices. Sometimes he is in the provident fund section of the police headquarters requesting the dealing assistant to push his file. At others, he is seen in the pension section inquiring about the release of his family pension. It isn’t his own retirement benefits he is chasing. Jayakrishna’s policeman-son was killed in a Maoist attack and all he is asking for is the legitimate compensation for an irreparable loss.
Bardhan and his family reside in a single-storey building in Gadakana area of Bhubaneswar. It has neither a boundary wall nor a proper approach road. The entrance has no door bell. So we knock on the grille. The family’s pet dog Blackie barks in response. Jayakrishna is soon at the door to usher us in.
Says Pratima: “While the government has promised to bear the complete cost of my medical treatment, it is painful that people from the department are fraudulently withdrawing money in our name and then trying to recover it from us.”
When the doctor treating her learnt that the police department wasn’t going to bear her expenses anymore, he stopped taking proper care of her. He discharged her even though she had not recovered fully. She continued to receive notices from her department to join back.
At her tether’s end, Pratima met the then Director General of Orissa Police Gopal Nanda as a last resort. He not only waived off her loan but also ordered that she be assigned an office job. She could now see light at the end of the tunnel. But Pratima is still nursing the wound in her leg. It hasn’t healed because of the unseemly haste with which the doctor discharged her from hospital. We ask her how much she has got by way of compensation. She replies: “What compensation are you talking about? I haven't received a single penny.”
Pratima points out that it has taken the government two years to set up a board to prepare a detailed report on those who were injured in that Maoist strike. She adds: “As for my own case, one of the two board members who examined me was the same doctor who discharged me untreated. I, therefore, don’t have must expectations from this board.”
Now meet Jayakrishna Bardhan, a superannuated government employee who resides in the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. Though he retired in 2004 he is still does the rounds of government offices. Sometimes he is in the provident fund section of the police headquarters requesting the dealing assistant to push his file. At others, he is seen in the pension section inquiring about the release of his family pension. It isn’t his own retirement benefits he is chasing. Jayakrishna’s policeman-son was killed in a Maoist attack and all he is asking for is the legitimate compensation for an irreparable loss.
Bardhan and his family reside in a single-storey building in Gadakana area of Bhubaneswar. It has neither a boundary wall nor a proper approach road. The entrance has no door bell. So we knock on the grille. The family’s pet dog Blackie barks in response. Jayakrishna is soon at the door to usher us in.
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