Kaveriamma is almost 80 and lives in Kiggal village of Kodagu district. She is the wife of an ex-serviceman who fought in World War II, the India-China war of 1962, and and the Indo-Pak war of 1965. And she is now waging her own battles, only it is for pension.
She first had to battle for nearly 12 years to get the pension denied because of a clerical error spelling her name Kaveriammal. She is now waging a second battle with the army authorities as she has received less than what was due to her.
The first round of trouble began when her late husband, Naib Subedar Ballachanda Nanjappa Aiyappa (JC-19016), mentioned his wife’s name as Rani — as he used to address her in private — instead of Kaveriamma in the family pension endorsement application submitted when he was alive.
Mandetira Subramani, retired Senior Non Commissioned Officer of the Indian Air Force and founder of the Mysuru-based Vekare Ex-Servicemen’s Trust (VKET), which is fighting Ms. Kaveriamma’s case, explained that Aiyappa had enrolled in the Indian Army (Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering or EME) on August 19, 1940, retired on February 16 1966, and was later re-employed in the Central Excise and Customs Department as a lower division clerk. He died in 2000.
And that is when Ms. Kaveriamma’s ordeal began — her name in the EME records office at Secunderabad was spelt as Kaveriammal.
“While the descriptive roll of Mr. Aiyappa mentions his wife’s name as Ms. Kaveriamma, a clerical error resulted in it being changed to Kaveriammal,” said former Sergeant Subramani, who is also an advocate who takes up cases involving ex-servicemen.
Lakhs missing
It has now transpired that Ms. Kaveriamma has received pension with effect from September 12, 2012, and not from the date of her husband’s demise, he said.“The total arrears due to her is ₹7,42,874,” he added.
The reason given by the authorities is that she failed to exercise her option for family pension within two years of her husband’s demise. “But pension cannot be time-barred and even if such a retrograde law exists, we will fight to get it squashed,” he argued.
But cases like Ms. Kaveriamma’s are just the tip of the iceberg and there are countless incidents of pension held up because of petty clerical errors, he said.
Besides, there is a lack of awareness of the latest rules governing pension schemes, Mr. Subrami said, pleading for a more humane approach by the authorities in settling the pension affairs of ex-servicemen.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by R. Krishna Kumar / Mysuru – December 14th, 2017
