IIPM Prof Arindam Chaudhuri on Our Parliament and Parliamentarians' Work
A TSI expose on the plight of families of security personnel killed by Maoists in Orissa has shaken the administration out of its stupor but much more still remains to be done, reports Dhrutikam Mohanty
Jayakrishna Bardhan couldn't believe his eyes. Over the last couple of months, he had run from pillar to post to claim his brave son's dues but to no avail. But now a team of police officials had arrived to hand over to his daughter-in-law what had eluded him for so long. That apart, the proud father of Ajit Bardhan, an Orissa police sub-inspector who was killed by Maoists, was seeing the power of the media at work. Just two days earlier, The Sunday Indian had published a cover story on the official apathy faced by families of martyrs in Orissa.
The report had thrown light on how the dependents of police personnel killed in Maoist attacks were struggling to get their legitimate benefits from the government. 'I couldn't imagine that the impact of the TSI coverage would be so instantaneous. The police department has taken no time to release the pending dues of my son,' says Bardhan. He also expresses deep gratitude to TSI for organising a press conference at the Press Club of India in Delhi, where he got an opportunity to draw the attention of the national media to their woes.
'Darkness at Noon': this was the headline of our cover story in the April 19 issue, which had revealed the despair of victims of Naxal violence in Orissa and exposed the negligence of the government machinery in the matter of redressing the problems of the families of martyrs. But stray rays of sunshine are now breaking through the gloom. The piece of paper that Bardhan's daughter-in-law Rosalin received from a special messenger of the police department was a cheque of Rs 10 lakh. This was late Ajit Bardhan's insurance payout, which was handed over to the nominee nine months after his death.
Though Jayakrishna and his younger son Ranjit have been to the Rourkela SP's Office and IG Administration's office on several occasions to pursue the release of the dues nothing had been done. It was only after their despair was highlighted in media that the police department turned proactive. Along with the insurance benefit, department also disbursed Rs 1 lakh and Rs 70,000 towards Ajit Bardhan's unutilised leave and salary arrears.
Masse Madkami, wife of Ganga Madkami, a Special Operation Group (SOG) jawan who lost his life in a landmine blast two years ago, now feels confident that she would be able to bear the burden of the family as its sole bread-earner. Today, she can at least take the responsibility of her eight-year-old son Sunadhar and Ganga's ageing parents. We had found Masse in a state of hopelessness and scepticism when we met her in the tribal village of Udupa, nearly 25 km from the Malkangari, just a month ago. At that time she told us that she ran from one office to another for her dues after her husband's demise. She finally received Rs 4 lakh as compensation and Rs 10 lakh as life insurance. She had to travel to the capital city of Bhubaneswar, which is about 700 kilometers, every month to collect the family pension. Masse was eagerly waiting for the promised job and land. So, what actually brought about a sudden change in her attitude towards life? Says Masse, 'I am now employed in the office of the Superintendent of Police under the rehabilitation scheme as promised by the government. On May 19, 2010, I joined a Class IV post. I am really thankful to TSI as all this happened after my plight was highlighted by the magazine.'
The government of Orissa has also given a job to Manini Devata, widow of SOG jawan Kanhu Charan Devata, who was killed in a landmine blast on July 16, 2008, at MV126 village of Malkangiri. Manini is a graduate and was expecting a job under the government's rehabilitation scheme. However, her application took two years to draw the attention of the babus and she eventually got an appointment in the office of the Superintendent of Police, Koraput. From May 19, 2010, Manini is working as a junior clerk there.
Manini's mother Sanyukta Tripathy says: 'The news published in TSI was subsequently broadcast on TV channels. That made a great impact and the state government immediately swung into action.' According to home department sources, in the past month the state government has provided jobs to five dependents of police personnel killed in Naxal attacks.
Lady constable Pratima Rout, one of the survivors of Nayagarh armoury loot, had been severely ill-treated, cheated and mentally tortured by her own department. But now she can breathe a little easy given the confidence-building measures adopted by her department.
Pratima was on duty on that dark night of 2008, when 300 to 400 Maoist cadres barged into Nayagarh police post, firing indiscriminately. Pratima was shot four times before she fell unconscious. Though her wounds had not completely healed, the police department stopped spending on her treatment. The doctor treating her didn't take proper care of her and discharged her even though she had not recovered completely from her wounds. To make matters worse, she continued to receive notices from the office to join back despite everyone being aware of her situation. Though the state government had declared compensation to all injured police persons, Pratima has not received a single penny so far. 'TSI not only highlighted my misery but also gave me the chance to share my sufferings with the national media in Delhi. As a result, I got quick response from my department. The Nayagarh SP personally met me and gave me a patient hearing. He promised to provide me with all possible benefits from the department. Recently a special medical board examined my disabilities. I hope the report of this medical board will help me to get legitimate compensation from the government,' says Pratima, when asked what steps the state government had taken to provide succour to her.
However, the story of Prabhati Mishra, wife of late reserve inspector Sarat Chandra Mishra is quite different. Forget about the promises of land or job, she has yet to receive her husband's gratuity and family pension. She says, 'It seems the home department has no respect for the media. I came to know that some martyrs' families have been given jobs, then why not me? Is my husband's sacrifice lesser than that of the others? I have met the home secretary several times but nothing has been done.'
No doubt the state government and the police department are currently in action mode but the steaps that it has taken are still well short of being satisfactory. 'In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, a martyr's family gets everything cleared within a month while here in our state it takes years,' says Prabhati.
Jayakrishna Bardhan also nurtures a grouse. He says, 'Though we have received money from the police department we have not been properly informed. It is amazing but true: so far we have not received any official letter regarding the compensation and benefits. We don't know why the department wants to keep us in the dark.' Along with the Bardhans, many other martyrs' families have not received their GIC, CPF and Special Pensions, which are their legitimate dues. Similarly, the government has also failed to keep its promise to allot a piece of land to every martyr's family.
While a senior police officer has confirmed that the administrative activism shown by the department is a reponse to media reports, principal secretary, home department, Mr A.P. Padhy is not ready to accept this. Talking to TSI, he clarifies, 'Our department was working for the last couple of months to provide employment to martyrs' dependents under the rehabilitation scheme. When that process was completed we sent them appointment letters. The process is still on and all the beneficiaries will get government job as per the rules. Some complications had arisen in the process of fixing of special pension and this will be sorted out very soon. Allotment of land to martyrs' families is not within our purview and is handled by revenue department. The state government has empowered district collectors to allot land to martyrs. Moreover, we don't want to react to the allegations that have been levelled by the families of martyrs as we have tremendous respect for them.'
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board
Run after passion and not money, says Arindam Chaudhuri
Award Conferred To Irom Chanu Sharmila By IIPM
IIPM Lucknow – News article in Economic Times and Times of India
A TSI expose on the plight of families of security personnel killed by Maoists in Orissa has shaken the administration out of its stupor but much more still remains to be done, reports Dhrutikam Mohanty
Jayakrishna Bardhan couldn't believe his eyes. Over the last couple of months, he had run from pillar to post to claim his brave son's dues but to no avail. But now a team of police officials had arrived to hand over to his daughter-in-law what had eluded him for so long. That apart, the proud father of Ajit Bardhan, an Orissa police sub-inspector who was killed by Maoists, was seeing the power of the media at work. Just two days earlier, The Sunday Indian had published a cover story on the official apathy faced by families of martyrs in Orissa.
The report had thrown light on how the dependents of police personnel killed in Maoist attacks were struggling to get their legitimate benefits from the government. 'I couldn't imagine that the impact of the TSI coverage would be so instantaneous. The police department has taken no time to release the pending dues of my son,' says Bardhan. He also expresses deep gratitude to TSI for organising a press conference at the Press Club of India in Delhi, where he got an opportunity to draw the attention of the national media to their woes.
'Darkness at Noon': this was the headline of our cover story in the April 19 issue, which had revealed the despair of victims of Naxal violence in Orissa and exposed the negligence of the government machinery in the matter of redressing the problems of the families of martyrs. But stray rays of sunshine are now breaking through the gloom. The piece of paper that Bardhan's daughter-in-law Rosalin received from a special messenger of the police department was a cheque of Rs 10 lakh. This was late Ajit Bardhan's insurance payout, which was handed over to the nominee nine months after his death.
Though Jayakrishna and his younger son Ranjit have been to the Rourkela SP's Office and IG Administration's office on several occasions to pursue the release of the dues nothing had been done. It was only after their despair was highlighted in media that the police department turned proactive. Along with the insurance benefit, department also disbursed Rs 1 lakh and Rs 70,000 towards Ajit Bardhan's unutilised leave and salary arrears.
Masse Madkami, wife of Ganga Madkami, a Special Operation Group (SOG) jawan who lost his life in a landmine blast two years ago, now feels confident that she would be able to bear the burden of the family as its sole bread-earner. Today, she can at least take the responsibility of her eight-year-old son Sunadhar and Ganga's ageing parents. We had found Masse in a state of hopelessness and scepticism when we met her in the tribal village of Udupa, nearly 25 km from the Malkangari, just a month ago. At that time she told us that she ran from one office to another for her dues after her husband's demise. She finally received Rs 4 lakh as compensation and Rs 10 lakh as life insurance. She had to travel to the capital city of Bhubaneswar, which is about 700 kilometers, every month to collect the family pension. Masse was eagerly waiting for the promised job and land. So, what actually brought about a sudden change in her attitude towards life? Says Masse, 'I am now employed in the office of the Superintendent of Police under the rehabilitation scheme as promised by the government. On May 19, 2010, I joined a Class IV post. I am really thankful to TSI as all this happened after my plight was highlighted by the magazine.'
The government of Orissa has also given a job to Manini Devata, widow of SOG jawan Kanhu Charan Devata, who was killed in a landmine blast on July 16, 2008, at MV126 village of Malkangiri. Manini is a graduate and was expecting a job under the government's rehabilitation scheme. However, her application took two years to draw the attention of the babus and she eventually got an appointment in the office of the Superintendent of Police, Koraput. From May 19, 2010, Manini is working as a junior clerk there.
Manini's mother Sanyukta Tripathy says: 'The news published in TSI was subsequently broadcast on TV channels. That made a great impact and the state government immediately swung into action.' According to home department sources, in the past month the state government has provided jobs to five dependents of police personnel killed in Naxal attacks.
Lady constable Pratima Rout, one of the survivors of Nayagarh armoury loot, had been severely ill-treated, cheated and mentally tortured by her own department. But now she can breathe a little easy given the confidence-building measures adopted by her department.
Pratima was on duty on that dark night of 2008, when 300 to 400 Maoist cadres barged into Nayagarh police post, firing indiscriminately. Pratima was shot four times before she fell unconscious. Though her wounds had not completely healed, the police department stopped spending on her treatment. The doctor treating her didn't take proper care of her and discharged her even though she had not recovered completely from her wounds. To make matters worse, she continued to receive notices from the office to join back despite everyone being aware of her situation. Though the state government had declared compensation to all injured police persons, Pratima has not received a single penny so far. 'TSI not only highlighted my misery but also gave me the chance to share my sufferings with the national media in Delhi. As a result, I got quick response from my department. The Nayagarh SP personally met me and gave me a patient hearing. He promised to provide me with all possible benefits from the department. Recently a special medical board examined my disabilities. I hope the report of this medical board will help me to get legitimate compensation from the government,' says Pratima, when asked what steps the state government had taken to provide succour to her.
However, the story of Prabhati Mishra, wife of late reserve inspector Sarat Chandra Mishra is quite different. Forget about the promises of land or job, she has yet to receive her husband's gratuity and family pension. She says, 'It seems the home department has no respect for the media. I came to know that some martyrs' families have been given jobs, then why not me? Is my husband's sacrifice lesser than that of the others? I have met the home secretary several times but nothing has been done.'
No doubt the state government and the police department are currently in action mode but the steaps that it has taken are still well short of being satisfactory. 'In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, a martyr's family gets everything cleared within a month while here in our state it takes years,' says Prabhati.
Jayakrishna Bardhan also nurtures a grouse. He says, 'Though we have received money from the police department we have not been properly informed. It is amazing but true: so far we have not received any official letter regarding the compensation and benefits. We don't know why the department wants to keep us in the dark.' Along with the Bardhans, many other martyrs' families have not received their GIC, CPF and Special Pensions, which are their legitimate dues. Similarly, the government has also failed to keep its promise to allot a piece of land to every martyr's family.
While a senior police officer has confirmed that the administrative activism shown by the department is a reponse to media reports, principal secretary, home department, Mr A.P. Padhy is not ready to accept this. Talking to TSI, he clarifies, 'Our department was working for the last couple of months to provide employment to martyrs' dependents under the rehabilitation scheme. When that process was completed we sent them appointment letters. The process is still on and all the beneficiaries will get government job as per the rules. Some complications had arisen in the process of fixing of special pension and this will be sorted out very soon. Allotment of land to martyrs' families is not within our purview and is handled by revenue department. The state government has empowered district collectors to allot land to martyrs. Moreover, we don't want to react to the allegations that have been levelled by the families of martyrs as we have tremendous respect for them.'
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board
Run after passion and not money, says Arindam Chaudhuri
Award Conferred To Irom Chanu Sharmila By IIPM
IIPM Lucknow – News article in Economic Times and Times of India
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