A 77-year- old widow of a former English lecturer finally received family pension after 51 years of struggle against bureaucratic red-tape. Her husband had died in 1962. Hararpiya Devi finally seemed happy as she managed to get her deceased husband’s family pension arrear.
Harapriya’s husband Janakinath Nanda Choudhury was an English lecturer from 1954 to 1962 at the BJB College in Bhubaneswar. Janakinath had died on June 3, 1962 after he drowned in the Mahanadi river at Jobra.
“My spouse died at the age of 29 years, when I was 26 years. I had two children. I took up a job of a teacher to educate my children and also claimed to get my spouse’s family pension,” stated septuagenarian Harapriya.
“I knocked all the doors and ran from pillar to post to get the family pension of my deceased spouse. But the authorities did not pay any heed to my plea. Every year, I used to pay a visit to the office of the Director of Higher Education to claim family pension. But the officials always told me that since my spouse had not completed ten years in service, so I would not be not entitled to get family pension,” added Harapriya.
later, Harapriya submitted letters before the concerned department claiming that the pension rules had been amended and as per gazette notification no-68/86, she was eligible to get family pension. As a result, the officials finally provide her dues.