Misery of a freedom fighter’s wife.

Punjab Newsline:Rampura(Bathinda):Tuesday, February 14, 2012.

It is a matter of shame that Freedom Fighter Kirpal Singh who laid down his precious life for the independence of the nation, his widow Baljeet Kaur was getting only one-third of the pension issued to her by the Pension Cell from Delhi.

The following information was revealed through an RTI which was filed by Baljeet’s Lawyer, Rupinder Garg. Rupinder said that during the last 12 years, she had been paid 3 lakhs less by the authorities. In August 2009, Baljeet’s pension was increased to Rs 10,128 but the local authorities paid her only Rs 3,000. In the year, she was paid Rs 3,720 instead of Rs 3,840.

He further said that her pension was increased to Rs 12,407 eventually but during the time period from August 2001 to October 2006, she was being paid only Rs 3,720 and later in August 2007 it was further reduced to Rs 3,000 by the local authorities.

Garg said that after a long battle, he has been able to restore the pension amount for Baljeet Kaur. The local authorities have been directed to pay her Rs 3,46,000 along with the interest but Garg lamented that the authorities are trying to protect the tainted officials.