HYDERABAD: Even as the Telangana government extended a generous financial package to slain Colonel Santosh Babu’s family, the kin of late Captain R Veera Raja Reddy who was killed in Rajouri (J&K) in 2002, say the Centre and State are ignoring them.
Eighteen years might have passed but for Raja Reddy’s father, Dr Konda Reddy, who lost his 25-year-old son, the grief is still fresh. He laments that both the Central and State governments have failed to provide the recognition and respect that their son had deserved . Speaking to Express, the 71-year-old said that after his son’s death, the then Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy government did not do anything.
“A few officials came to meet us but only for their gain and not to help us. The government did not install any statue or construct a memorial to remember my son’s sacrifice.” In 2004, Raja Reddy’s parents erected a bronze statue of his on their own. They also established a Trust which gives out scholarships every year on merit.
“How will fathers of the younger generation send their sons and daughters to fight for their motherland, if they know that after their children’s sacrifice, they will be left alone without any help from the leaders and authorities,” asks Dr Konda Reddy. The angry father alleges discrimination in the manner in which the families of two martyrs are being treated.
“While martyr Colonel Santosh Babu has been given Rs 5 crore, Lance Naik Ramchander Feroze was given an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh, we were given Rs 5,000 as ex gratia.” He adds, “We do not want money, but we expect a little recognition.” Capt Raja Reddy died in the line of duty fighting four militants in Rajouri sector. He is survived by his parents Dr Konda Reddy and mother Pushpa (66).