Kolkata, Oct 10 The smile that lit up the face of the 93-year-old woman was compensation enough for the long distance the Zilla Sainik Board (ZSB) officer had to travel to reach her home, about a two-hour drive from Darjeeling in north Bengal.
The woman -- Lila Maya Karmi, is the widow of Lance Naik Bhakta Bahadur Karmi, a World War-II veteran.
From October onwards, she will receive a pension of Rs 3,000 per month. This is the sum stipulated by the Government of West Bengal. In states like Delhi, Gujarat and Goa, the pension is Rs 10,000 per month and in other states, it is Rs 6,000.
According to an official of the Rajya Sainik Board (RSB), West Bengal, 31 World War-II veterans and 326 widows of the bravehearts are alive.
It is not a part of the mandate of the ZSBs to look into such matters but officials - who have themselves retired from military - go out of their way to provide whatever support is possible.
Recently, the ZSB of Darjeeling provided assistance to a retired Subedar of the Army, whose recently constructed house near Mirik was gutted. This sum of Rs 50,000 came from the ZSB's Charitable Relief Fund.
Unfortunately, not all districts of West Bengal have ZSBs. A few weeks ago, the Bankura District Ex-Servicemen’s Association wrote to the district magistrate, seeking a ZSB in Bankura. Of the 23 districts in West Bengal, only 14 have ZSBs. This has affected the welfare of ex-servicemen in the state.
“It is mandated that state governments will create ZSBs. The role of the ZSBs is to ensure welfare schemes of the central and state governments, such as pension, reach the ex-servicemen or their widows. The ZSBs process the Central and state government grants and also take care of re-employment of ex-servicemen.
"The Boards also empower veterans to go in for higher education and develop their skills while taking care of grants due to paraplegic ex-servicemen. ZSBs are full-fledged government organisations and not welfare bodies. Their role is to look after the documentation of discharged soldiers and widows,” the RSB official said.
According to him, there are a large number of veterans and widows in districts like Bankura and Purulia. Many of them are from the various tribal communities. The state government needs to look into the demands for setting up ZSBs in all districts.
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