Special relief awaited: 3 years on, families of 9 fallen Ludhiana firemen run from pillar to post
The allowance was announced in January last year when the President’s Fire Service Medal for Gallantry was awarded to the fallen firefighters
Three years after nine firefighters were killed in the line of duty, their families are still forced to make rounds of MC offices for disbursal of a special monthly allowance of Rs 6,000 that has been promised to them.
The allowance was announced in January last year when the President’s Fire Service Medal for Gallantry was awarded to the fallen firefighters who lost their lives while dousing the flames at a plastic factory near Suffiyan Chowk in November 2017.
The deceased include sub-fire officers Rajinder Sharma, Sumohan Gill and Raj Kumar, leading firemen Pooran Singh and Manohar Lal, and firemen Rajan, Vishal, Manpreet Singh and Sukhdev Singh.
Other benefits promised to their families include discount on air travel, concession in school admission fee for children and widow quota in jobs.
Also, four firefighters who suffered burn injuries while dousing flames at a factory in Vijay Nagar in May 2017 are also suffering due to the apathy of the department.
Of these, one leading fireman, Hajura Singh, has started receiving compensation after his transfer to Amritsar. The others injured include firemen Lovlesh Sood, Naresh Kumar and Saudagar Singh.
Deceased sub-fire officer Raj Kumar’s wife, Manjeet Kaur, said, “We are continuously making rounds of MC offices and have also met Mayor Balkar Sandhu recently. But, the authorities have still failed to provide the allowance. The families of the firefighters who gave their lives in the line of duty are forced to run pillar to post to get what they deserve. The government has provided the government jobs to the family members but few families are still struggling to make ends meet. Also, no other benefits including concession in school admission fee, discount on air travel etc are not being provided.”
Deceased sub-fire officer Rajinder Sharma’s son, Tushar Sharma, said the gallantry award was announced for the firefighters in January 2019 and the amount, which was earlier Rs 3,000 per month, was increased to Rs 6,000 in March this year.
Municipal commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal said, “I am aware of the matter and as per procedure, the file has to be approved by the Finance and Contracts Committee (F and CC) of MC. I have forwarded the case to the committee and the allowance will be released soon after getting approval.”