The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Separated women may get pension

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Sunday, Aug 19, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Separated women may get pension

Staff Reporter

Such women with no source of income likely to be paid Rs. 400 a month

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

AGONISING WAIT: People waiting for their turn to meet Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy during the ‘Janata Darshan’ at his home office ‘Krishna’ in Bangalore on Saturday.

BANGALORE: Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Thursday said his Government will take steps to provide Rs. 400 a month to women separated from their husbands and without any other means of livelihood.

Mr. Kumaraswamy told presspersons at the ‘Janata Darshan’ here on Saturday that at present only senior citizens, widows and physically handicapped persons were paid pension. Moved by the plight of the separated women, he said he would bring the new policy into force before the end of his tenure.

Evaluation

About the “Janata Darshan”, he said he was satisfied with the exercise. The Chief Minister asserted that he would continue to respond to people’s problems even after demitting office.

He claimed to have solved over 70 per cent of the grievances brought to him during the programme. Barring demands for government jobs and Ashraya houses, which were outside his authority, all other pleas were fulfilled. Allotment of houses for the physically handicapped was made possible under the Ashraya scheme through an amendment to the rules concerned, he said.

To a question whether he would hold the darshan till October 3, Mr. Kumaraswamy said there were still four Saturdays and the programme would be on.

Problems galore

Thousands of people, including a large number of physically handicapped persons thronged “Krishna”, the home office of the Chief Minister, on Saturday at the ‘Janata Darshan’ seeking redressal of grievances on Saturday.

Senior citizens in need of pension, ailing persons in need of healthcare and unemployed youth seeking job or self employment waited for hours in queues.

Nagaraj, a worker from Siddanahalli in Sira taluk of Tumkur district had broken his spinal cord when the KSRTC bus in which he was travelling rashly jumped a hump in Tumkur. The bus conductor had left Mr. Nagaraj on the pavement. His had family brought Mr. Nagaraj to the ‘Janata Darshan’ and Mr. Kumaraswamy immediately issues directions for his treatment. Jayaram, a construction worker from Chintamani, was rendered immobile after a fall from a building under construction. He appealed for help as his daughter was still studying M.Sc. Mr. Kumaraswamy sanctioned Rs. 50,000 from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

Govindappa (40) from Kolar had an abnormal growth in his head and his mother brought him to the ‘Janata Darshan.’ While directing his immediate treatment at NIMHANS, Mr. Kumaraswamy ordered payment of pension to mother and son.

Kokilamma from Puttenahalli in Bangalore, who makes a living by preparing confectionaries, had a bundle of woes. While her son was blind, one daughter was mentally handicapped and another daughter was suffering from an unknown illness. The Chief Minister issued her a cheque for Rs. 10,000 and ordered payment of pension to all the four persons.

A delegation of washermen from Bangalore met Mr. Kumaraswamy with the grievance that they did not have any place to carry on their vocation. The tanks had dried up and they had no place to dry clothes. The Chief Minister asked BBMP Commissioner S. Subramanya to make immediate arrangements for “Dhobi Ghats.” The programme, which began at 8 in the morning, continued till midnight as there was a huge rush of people. This was because the Chief Minister had not conducted ‘Janata Darshan’ for several weeks. More than 4,000 people had come to meet him.

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