Telangana yet to give compensation to martyr’s family

Hyderabad: Six years after R. Govardhan Reddy, the constable of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), from Mahabubnagar district, was killed in an IED blast at Chhattisgarh in December 2014, his family members are still awaiting for the full compensation from the Telangana government.

This includes Rs 5 lakh cash to be given by the state, in accordance with a Central guideline, to family of any soldier (irrespective of rank) serving in any Central force who are killed in action in the state or outside.

R. Govardhan Reddy, second among three children of R Karuna Reddy and R Lalithamma, hailing from the Sanginenipally village of Koilkonda mandal of Mahabubnagar district, joined the CRPF as a constable on February 28, 2011. After training, he was posted and served in Delhi, Punjab, Kerala, Nagpur and Chhattisgarh.

On the ill-fated day of December 13, 2014, when 26-year-old Govardhan, along with his unit, was conducting a road sanitization and search operation at Rajpeta, Maoists attacked them. The Maoists, who were already waiting the CRPF troops, blasted an IED and followed it with indiscriminate firing. When the troops retaliated, the Maoists fled from the area.

Constable Govardhan, who was chasing the Maoists, unfortunately, stepped on a pressure IED. The blast resulted in loss of his left leg under the knee and ankle of the right leg. Despite best medical efforts, he succumbed in hospital.

Lalithamma, the martyr’s mother, said, “My son used to call me every day during noon hours. He was very brave. He only wanted to join armed forces from his childhood. Discontinuing his graduation, my son joined the forces and laid down his life for the country.”

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Karna Reddy, father of martyr Govardhan, said that after the incident, the family received ex-gratia from the Union government and a job for Dayakar Reddy, his younger son, also in CRPF, on compassionate grounds. He is now posted in Pune. But no cash compensation has been given to us from the state government.

“We received a piece of land from the state government but we deserve better compensation after losing our son. We approached local MLAs, leaders and some officials earlier, but our request was never considered,” said Karna Reddy.

When contacted, a senior district administration official claimed,  “our records show that family of martyr R Govardhan Reddy was given 200 sq yards of land in Mahabubnagar town. We can give more but they have to fill in an application form and submit. We would definitely examine it and do the needful.”

Incidentally, this is not the first instance when the family of a war hero or a martyr is neglected and ignored by the government after a while. At the peak of emotion, leaders make promises but officials make families run from pillar to post subsequently, using excuses like forms, applications, details among others.