Call from Devendra Fadnavis’s office helps woman, who lost her husband, get a job

For two years, Puja Bhosale did the rounds of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation to get a job on compassionate grounds after her husband’s sudden death. She has now been appointed as a peon.

Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (Express photo)

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It was a call from Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s office that ended Puja Bhosale’s two-year struggle to get a job.

Puja, 42, and her daughters, aged 8 and 5 years, were struggling to make ends meet following the death of her husband, Krushnaji, in 2021. A driver at the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), Krushnaji died after suffering a heart attack while playing cricket.

Following a call from Fadnavis’s office, Puja has now been appointed as a peon at the PCMC on compassionate grounds. “For women who lose their husbands, the life ahead is a very difficult one. If the government can help by ensuring that they get their rightful claim on time, it will help such women immensely,” said Puja, who lives in the Pimprigaon area.

For two years, Puja did the rounds of the PCMC offices to get a job on compassionate grounds but to no avail. The PCMC administration cited a family dispute as a reason to deny her a job. “We had no problem giving her the job on compassionate grounds but one of her relatives had also made a similar demand and submitted some documents to support the claim. We needed some time to settle the dispute,” Deputy Municipal Commissioner Sunil Joshi told The Indian Express.

With the civic administration sifting through claims, the issue dragged on for nearly two years. In the meantime, the Bhosales fought to survive. “I had to borrow money from friends and relatives to keep my family going. It was one of the worst phases of our life,” Puja said.

Finally, Puja reached out to Shrikar Pardeshi, principal secretary in the deputy chief minister’s office. She knew him as her husband had worked as a driver when Pardeshi was the Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal commissioner nearly 10 years ago. She told Pardeshi about her plight and sought intervention from Fadnavis’s office.

On May 15, Pardeshi called up PCMC commissioner Shekhar Singh and asked him to look into Puja’s complaint. In just four days, the PCMC completed all the paperwork and recruited Puja as a peon with a civic school in Pimpri. “After the call from the deputy chief minister’s office, the commissioner directed us to complete the legal process as early as possible. We completed everything by May 18 and asked Bhosale to join duty from May 19,” Joshi said.

Puja will now draw a salary of Rs 45,000 per month. “Her job from the day she joined duty will be of permanent nature. But she will be confirmed as a permanent employee after two years,” Joshi added.

Expressing her gratitude to the deputy chief minister’s office and PCMC, a relieved Puja said, “I want to profusely thank the principal secretary for helping us ease our family’s nightmare. I lost my husband at a young age…Now I have to look after my daughters..,” she said. Puja said she also received good support from her brother-in-law Santosh Jadhav and her sister Kanchan. “Both of them supported me all along in my effort to get the job,’ she said.