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President's office helps woman get her due

KOLKATA: Having knocked at the doors of various authorities for 13 years, Aparna Ghosh, a resident of Bardhaman in West Bengal, had given up hope until the office of President Pratibha Patil intervened to ensure that justice is not denied.

On the night of October 10, 1997, Ms. Ghosh lost her husband in a freak accident during the firing of a canon, a tradition during Durga Puja festivities in Bardhaman. The canon misfired and a splinter fatally wounded her husband.

Challenged with the task of single-handedly raising her one-and-a-half-year-old son, Ms. Ghosh approached the authorities to give her a job on compassionate grounds and even received an order from the Calcutta High Court towards this end, two years later. But the State Government moved the Supreme Court against the order and for the next ten years Ms. Ghosh ran from pillar to post. But matters did not progress and she had to depend on her father's pension and temporary appointments.

Earlier this year, she wrote to President Pratibha Patil asking her to intervene in the matter. “I had written to the President on earlier occasions as well, but this time I received a response immediately,” she said.

Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson Archana Datta said: “The matter had been pending since 1997 and we felt something had to be done. I wrote to West Bengal Chief Secretary and other departments as well as the District Magistrate.”

Most importantly, Ms. Datta was able to obtain a copy of the Supreme Court order which indicated that the Court had dismissed the West Bengal Government's appeal in 2000 itself. The copy was then submitted to the State Government, Ms. Ghosh added.

“All the officials, including District Magistrate Omkar Meena, were very helpful and in a matter of months I was given a temporary appointment,” Ms. Ghosh said.

Ms. Ghosh joined the office of the District Magistrate as one of the clerical staff on November 24 this year. Her appointment will be confirmed once she is certified for her proficiency in operating a computer.

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