Chandigarh
On Wednesday, the Punjab Civil Secretariat here had an unusual visitor –- 75-year-old visually challenged Seeto from Maherdu village in Nakodar, Jalandhar.

Possessing a ‘Tamra Patra’, a testimony to her deceased husband’s contribution to the nation’s freedom struggle, and an unkempt file of soiled letters, she came to the office of Chairman, SC Commission, here for the restoration of pension.

After the death of her husband, Seeto has been totally dependent on her daughter Sunita, who does menial household jobs to eke out a living.

She recalled that the ‘Tamra Patra’ was awarded to her husband by the then PM Indira Gandhi in August 1972. “My husband, who worked with Subhas Chandra Bose and served a jail term, kept getting pension till his death in 2002. After that, I have been running from one government office to another to get the pension restored,” she said.

After the widow approached the Commission over her financial plight, the concerned wing of the state government – in July — only bothered to inform her that her monthly pension had been increased from Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,500 with effect from January 12, 2013. But the increased pension benefits have failed to reach her.

Seeto is also fighting for family pension from the Army in which her husband served for a short period.

Punjab’s Department of Freedom Fighters has forwarded her case to the central government.

The efforts to secure a job for her daughter — after her two sons died about five years ago — have not yielded any results.

Rajesh Bagha, Chairman, State SC Commission, has issued a notice to DC Jalandhar for October 17, seeking reports on the facts of the case after the widow pointed out that the administration was not doing the needful to extend benefits to her.