The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Red tape ties up war widow’s old age home plan

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Sunday, Feb 10, 2008
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Karnataka - Bangalore

Red tape ties up war widow’s old age home plan

Chitra V. Ramani

Padma Sangali

Bangalore: It has been a long wait for Padma Sangali who has to live with the daily pain of a husband killed in anti-insurgency operations in Kashmir. She has been waiting for a piece of land that she is entitled to since 2002 and she has been running from pillar to post to get it.

Her husband Major Ashok Sangali, who belonged to the 17 Maratha Light Infantry, was killed in an anti-insurgency operation in Kashmir in November 2001.

“We are entitled to certain provisions from the Government. What is due to us should be given within a reasonable time. We live with our own set of problems and the least we expect is a quick dispensation of what is due to us. While I have received most of them, I have not been able to get the Government to sanction a piece of land,” she said.

She said that she had been pursuing the matter relentlessly because she wanted to establish a home for senior citizens. “That way, I will be able to do my bit for society.”

Ms. Sangali said that her request for land was channelled through the Department of Sainik Welfare and Resettlement. “The request was then forwarded to the Deputy Commissioner and then to the tahsildar concerned where a file was built. It was then sent back to the Deputy Commissioner’s officer, who forwarded the same to the Revenue Department for clearance.”

She said that after a lot of legwork, she identified three acres of land at Sathnoor. “A file was built and it was sent to the Revenue Department. However, the Revenue Department rejected it on grounds that the land was gramathana and not agricultural. I was entitled only for agricultural land, the officials told me.”

Ms. Sangali said that she did not lose hope and identified another piece of land at Bylakere in Hesarghatta. “Another file was built. The land was cleared by the tahsildar’s office. This time, the file was stopped at the Deputy Commissioner’s office. The officials told me that according to a Supreme Court ruling, an individual was not entitled to agricultural land,” she said. The file was sent to the office of Revenue Minister (Jagadish Shettar) a day before he was to demit office. The file was later sent back to the Revenue Department. “I tried to pursue the matter later, only to be told that the file is missing. ”

Ms. Sangali said that she later met P.K.H. Tharakan, Advisor to Governor Rameshwar Thakur, and gave him a representation requesting him to look into the matter. “That was in the last week of December. Mr. Tharakan assured me to look into the matter. He has called for the file from the Revenue Department. However, there has been no response so far.”

Col. C.M. Uthaiah, Director, Department of Sainik Welfare and Resettlement, told The Hindu that the department had taken care to sanction benefits from its side. “We had recommended to the Government to sanction the land as desired by Ms. Sangali. We are working to help our personnel and their families after all.”

“It has been my lifetime ambition to set up a home for senior citizens. It took monumental effort to find land that was free from litigation, only to hit a roadblock at various stages. I am not sure when I will get what is due to me,” Ms. Sangali said.

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