Pipariya (Madhya Pradesh): Five days have passed since a woman and a minor girl drowned in a pond at Pisua village in Matkuli area of Pipariya. But their families have yet to get the financial aid for performing the last rites.
The 40-year-old woman Jyoti Bai, wife of Kamlesh Yadav and the 15-year-old girl Kanchan, daughter of Santosh Thakur, drowned in the pond when they were bathing.
According to rules, Sambal card holders get the financial aid for performing the last rites immediately after a tragedy strikes their families.
Jyodi Bai was a Sambal card holder, and since Kanchan was a minor, her parents have Sambal cards.
The relatives of Jyoti Bai and Kanchan said they did not get any financial aid because of alleged negligence of the Panchayat secretary.
According to Sarpanch of Pisua, Pavan Kumar Singh, he told the Panchayat secretary Arvind Parashar to provide financial aid to the family of Jyoti Bai and Kanchan. Singh further said Parashar had informed him that since there was no money in the accounts, it would be given later.
Since Parashar’s phone was switched off, he could not be contacted for comments on the issue.
Panchayat inspector and in-charge of the funds for the last rites Mahesh Bairagi said the Panchayat secretary should have taken a decision.
There are many cases in which the Panchayat secretaries failed to give financial aid to a family for performing the last rites after the death of their near and dear ones.
A volley of complaints has been lodged in the CM Helpline about such cases, official sources said.
Since Jyoti Bai’s husband died six months ago, there is nobody to look after her four children. The woman was a daily-wage worker in the village. A few social workers have come up to help them.
When the issue was put up before chief executive officer Satish Chandra Agarwal, he said he was not acquainted with the incident.
Nevertheless, he will take feedback on the matter, and, if financial aid was not given, he will arrange for it, Agarwal said.
