Saturday, October 23, 2010
Gangamma Subbaiah, mother of a Border Security Force (BSF) jawan who died while on duty, had to wait for 10 years after the death of her son to get pension from the Ministry of Defence. AS Karuna, a jawan from the 75th Battalion of the BSF’s Yelahanka Centre, died on August 28, 2000 while serving at Ferozpur in Punjab. A native of Coorg, Karuna was taking care of his elderly mother Gangamma. For Gangamma, a widow, what added insult to injury was the refusal of the Ministry of Defence to pay the parents’ pension to her. Her request was rejected in March 2002 on the grounds that an affidavit by the local tahsildar mentioned her annual income from the 17 guntas of land owned by her as Rs 30,000. BSF rules do not provide for pension to parents of dead soldiers who have an annual income of more than Rs 27,000. Another caste and income certificate issued by the tahsildar in November 2002, mentioned her annual income as Rs 18,000. But this was not taken into consideration. Following this, Gangamma approached the High Court of Karnataka, but a single bench judge upheld the BSF’s decision. “Rules are rules, but it was impossible for her to survive on the meagre earnings from the small piece of land she had. So we appealed to a division bench of the High Court,” said her counsel Shankrappa. On Thursday, the division bench of Justice KL Manjunath and Justice B Manohar set aside the order of the single bench and ruled that the income report of the tahsildar of 2002 was correct and hence she was entitled for the pension. “An old woman had to fight for 10 years to get the pension entitled to her son who died fighting for the country. She should not have been put to this hardship. But thanks to the High Court and the judges, justice has finally been delivered,” said Shankrappa. http://www.bangaloremirror.com/article/10/20101023201010230759508229d34a8b9/Martyr%E2%80%99s-mom-gets-justice-after-10-years.html |
No comments:
Post a Comment