Times of India: Jalandhar: Sunday,
April 24, 2016.
Call it
height of callousness or sticking to the set official style, the Punjab
revenue, rehabilitation and disaster management department has mentioned in an
order that governor "is pleased to approve the financial assistance to the
families of farmers or farm labourers who committed suicide."
The
compensation is for families of farmers and workers who ended their lives due
to distress over huge financial burden or crop failure.
Copy of two
such orders, obtained by RTI activist Parvinder Singh Kitna, read as,
"Punjab de Rajpal parssanta poorvak deputy commissioner Ludhiana noo karze
kaaran khudkushi karan waale kissana/khet mazdooran de parwaaran noon hethan
dite verve anusaar sahauta den di parvanagi dinde hun" (Punjab governor
happily grants sanction to Ludhiana deputy commissioner for distributing
compensation to the families of farmers/ farm labourers who committed suicide
as mentioned below)."
The orders
then mention the names of the famers who committed suicide, their addresses,
the amount to be given to their families and also the instructions that the
compensation should be distributed according to the directions of the
government in this regard.
"I was
procuring the information through RTI Act to collect data about farmers'
suicides and the compensation, but came across this bizarre wording. This is
shocking that the state government orders which apparently passed through the
eyes of the senior officers have such wording. How can 'happily approves' be
mentioned with compensation for suicides. It reflects that how official
machinery believes implementing everything in letter even if it means killing
the spirit of the matter," Kitna said.
When asked,
the department officials said they were just reproducing the wording already in
use since long and they couldn't deviate on their own from that set pattern
unless clear instructions from top officials.
When
contacted, the department undersecretary Manjit Kaur said the matter came to
her notice sometime back and they were already considering it. "Though it
is a standard practice to write that the governor gives approval
"prassanta poorvak," it definitely should not appear in a letter or
order related to compensation for death or some other tragedy. In future, we
shall make suitable amends," she said.
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