2 years on,govt yet to help kin of Maval firing victims

Soon after the incident,Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar announced that the next of the kin of those killed would be given jobs with Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation. Chavan had also promised that the government would foot the education expenses of Kunal,son of Tupe.

But all this remains just words and the families have lost all their hope. The families of Tupe and Sathe were the most affected as the two were the bread-winners. To beat hunger and also feed her son Kunal,Tupe’s wife Anushua has been working as an agriculture labourer. Tupe’s mother Laxmibai Tupe said the family had to face lot of hardships since the death of her son.

“Shyamrao was the most educated of my three sons. He was a skilled labourer and used to work in various factories near Urse. We only have an acre of land and our family depended on his income. Since his death,my other sons and Anushua have been working in the fields of other farmers,” she said.

She said nothing has happened on the CM’s promise. “He had said the government would fund Kunal’s education but not a single penny has come,” she said.

Meanwhile,when Sathe’s wife Ranjana found it tough to arrange money for the marriage of their daughter Lalitha,the villagers chipped in. “The villagers pulled in their resources and helped us in the ceremony. The marriage hall was given to us free of cost while someone arranged the food and covered other expenses. We are waiting for the job that the CM had promised,” she said.

Nitin Thakar,son of Kantabai Thakar,said they followed up on the government promise many times but nothing has materialised. Villager Ganesh Ranade said they have repeatedly taken up the issue with the municipal corporation but to no avail.

“Some of the officers told us they would not be able to give jobs to the families as there was no provision in the law. The commissioner told us that they had sent the proposal for the state government’s approval. He also said the files were destroyed in the Mantralaya fire and had to be redrafted,” he said.

Local BJP MLA Bala Begde accused the government of politicising the issue. “We have followed up on the matter with the CM and he keeps assuring us that he would look into it. But nothing has happened yet,” he said.

PCMC Municipal Commissioner Shrikar Pardeshi said the proposal to give job to the families is awaiting state government’s nod.