The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Veterans fight for their hard-earned money

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 16, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Veterans fight for their hard-earned money

K. Manikandan

IAF cooperative society could not repay deposits

TAMBARAM: : Wing Commander (Retd) K.P.A. Narayanan is a veteran, having taken part in conflicts in Burma and the Jammu and Kashmir, the 1971 war and the Naga Hills operation.

A recipient of the Vishisht Seva Medal for his exemplary service in the Naga Hills operation, Mr. Narayanan, now 81, regrets that The Indian Air Force, which he served diligently for more than three decades, has left him in the lurch.

Not just Mr. Narayanan, but also the families of 300-odd ex-servicemen and widows staying in and around the IAF Station, Tambaram, are in a similar plight.

The depositors invested their life's earnings in the Air Force Civilian Employees Cooperative Thrift and Credit Society Limited, which is in trouble. During the past six months, it has not paid monthly interests; nor has it repaid the deposits on maturity.

The depositors said the society had not recovered loans from civilian employees as also members of the society. Some of the 400-odd civilian employees obtained a stay in December 2004 from the Central Administrative Tribunal on the recovery of dues from their salaries.

The depositors, deprived of their only source of income, went to the Madras High Court. A two-member Bench said remedy to the problems of the society and its members "lies elsewhere, and definitely not before the Central Administrative Tribunal or this court."

On April 27, the Deputy Registrar of Cooperative Societies directed the IAF authorities to "recover outstanding dues of the Air Force Civilian Employees Cooperative Societies from the salary of the members for April 2005 without fail", and sought a confirmation of compliance. However, the depositors said the society authorities did not recover the dues.

Senior officials at the IAF Station, Tambaram, assured the depositors steps were being taken to recover the dues. But, the depositors are not convinced. "How did the authorities disburse the salary without making the recovery despite clear instructions from the High Court and the cooperative society," asked a depositor.

The lot of several of the depositors, especially the widows, has become pathetic. Mr. Narayanan said that after the monthly payments stopped, he sold his car and gave up eating fruits.

Squadron Leader S.S. Wilson died in October 2000 after serving the IAF for 37 years. His wife Chellakani has been surviving on the pension and the monthly interest from the amount her husband had invested in the society. But she has been going through a bad patch after the payments halted in December. There are several other widows who do not have enough money even to pay for their children's school expenses.

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