HYDERABAD: Each time a helicopter goes missing somewhere in the country, it brings back poignant memories for Sanjana Bhatia and Kiranmayee. They know what it is like for the families of Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu.
Sanjana and Kiranmayee are the widows of Group Capt. S K Bhatia and Lt. Col.
M S Reddy, the crew members who lost their lives along with Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in a harrowing helicopter accident in 2009.
The pain of that day never goes away but what makes it worse is the indifference of the government as the two women pursue the benefits promised to them after their sacrifice two years ago. There is no office they have not petitioned, no officer they have not met. The list ranges from minister of state for defence M M Pallam Raju to principal secretary R M Gonela, senior IAS officer Jannat Hussain to T R K Rao of the AP Aviation Corporation.
But all they have got so far is assurances and nothing else.
“I feel miserable,” says Sanjana Bhatia. “Some officers say they have no time, some refuse to meet us, some send us away with assurances.” Days after that tragic incident, the state Government announced that the widow of each pilot would be given 500 sq yards of land, a job for one member of the family, and full pay till the date of superannuation of their late husbands.
Ditto is the case with Kiranmayee, widow of copilot Lt Col. M S Reddy. She has been running around various offices with a bunch of documents but nothing has moved.
Both Bhatia and Kiranmayee have two children each to take care of. Their education costs a packet besides their day-to-day expenses.
“I manage with the pension I'm getting, which is about Rs 38,000. I'm fed up of paying rent for the house I'm presently living in,” says Sanjana, whose elder son Kashish is doing his aeronautical engineering while the younger son Moksh is in the 10th standard. As for Kiranmayee, she has one son, Vinay and a daughter Manusree.
Since Bhatia belonged to the Air Force, Sanjana met Pallam Raju who promised to look into the matter. ''Requesting, pleading before so many people, it's been exhausting,'' says Sanjana.