Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Their parents fought for the country’s independence. Years on, single, dependent daughters of deceased freedom fighters in Madhya Pradesh are struggling to survive.
They are not getting pension (Samman Rashi) or other facilities they should, as dependents of freedom fighters. The reason, according to officials, was that they needed to have a physical disability of 60% or higher to be eligible.
Fifty-year-old Varsha Yadav stitches clothes for a living in Dewas. Stones in her gallbladder bring her constant pain, restricting her work to a couple of hours at a time. She lives with her brother and his son. Her brother was a private security guard but can no longer work because of age. Her nephew is a labour supervisor in a factory.
Varsha’s father, Mohan Singh Yadav, was a freedom fighter who passed away in 2004. He used to receive Rs 4,000 per month as a state government pension for freedom fighters. Her mother had predeceased her father.
Varsha is unmarried and was dependent on her father. The pension, however, was stopped after her father’s death. She has visited the Collector’s office, submitted numerous applications, and even travelled to Bhopal to submit a memorandum to the Governor, but to no avail. “I earn about Rs 50 to Rs 100 a day,” she says.
Sarvjeet Kour’s father, Mohinder Singh, who fought in the INA, passed away in 2006. Her mother died two years later. Singh used to get Rs 18,000 per month as a pension.
The 62-year-old Saravjeet now lives in Ayodhya Nagar in Bhopal with her son, who drives someone’s car for Rs 14,000 a month. She has been told that she would be entitled to the pension only if she is physically disabled and if her disability is 60% or higher.
“If my son loses his job, I would have no option but to beg,” she says. Freedom fighters were exempted from property tax, but she is not. “Earlier, we were invited to the I-Day functions, but no longer,” she says.
Jyoti Singh’s father, Umrao Singh, was a freedom fighter. The 59-year-old is unmarried and lives with her brother in Bhopal.
“I made several rounds of government offices for pension, but gave up when nothing worked,” she says. She was told that she had to be unmarried, dependent, and physically disabled to be eligible.
“You don’t want to give us money. You don’t want to give us respect and recognition…,” says Pushpa Joshi of Indore, whose father Shyam Sundar Joshi was jailed for three years during the freedom struggle.
Her mother passed away in 2019, a few years after her father’s death. Pushpa had written to the Prime Minister in 2019, asking for her father’s pension. She is still awaiting a reply. “I am not hand-to-mouth. But if something is my right, I should get it,” she says.
Barely 10 -12 freedom fighters from the state are alive. The widows of most are getting the pension, but unmarried, dependent daughters are not. Freedom fighters were idealists. They did not collect wealth. Naturally, their daughters are suffering.
All other facilities, such as, three percent quota in jobs, educational institutions etc, have also been withdrawn. The chief minister does not have time to meet us. He only hosts banquets for MISA detainees, says Ajay Sitlani, President, Swatantrata Senani Evam Uttaradhikari Samyukta Sangathan
