Mother of Kargil hero fights for claim on compensation

The family of the Kargil martyr got the monetary compensation from the government but the war hero's poor mother is locked in a legal battle for the past 10 years to receive a share of the pie in in Orissa's Kendrapara district.

The family of the Kargil martyr got the monetary compensation from the government but the war hero's poor mother is locked in a legal battle for the past 10 years to receive a share of the pie in in Orissa's Kendrapara district.

HT Image

With the martyr's widow allegedly grabbing the full compensation amount of Rs 22.70 lakh, the impoverished 69-year-old mother of Sachidananda Mallick in Kandiahata area is having a tough time after the untimely demise of the family's sole bread-earner.

Earlier, a lower court had ordered that the martyr's mother is entitled to get one-third of the compensation from the war widow's account.

Nivedita Mallick, the widow of the martyr, however, had challenged the lower court's verdict in an appellate court. And since then, a conclusive ruling from the court is awaited.

Monetary help had poured in from various quarters for the family living in the river-locked hamlet in Rajkanika tehsil as the country celebrated the success of 'Operation Vijay' in 1999.

Besides scores of organisations and individuals, including Sahara India, playback singer Anuradha Paudwal and cricketer Debasis Mohanty had generously contributed to the bereaved family.