Big B will Take Care of a 90 Year Old Freedom Fighter
The megastar of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan has decided to take care of a 90 year old freedom fighter. The actor has been so much moved with her fighting spirit that he decided to take care of her for the next five years.
The 67 year old actor made this declaration at the IBN18 Network’s Citizen Journalist Awards. He says all Gayatri Devi wants is her due.
In his blog he posted a message, “I am moved by their plight. Particularly that of the 90-year-old lady and have announced that I shall take care of her pension for the next five years. She blesses me.”
He also wrote, “She has only that element of humanity left in her. She can barely walk. And she is old. And all she wants is her due – her pension – Rs.3,500 per month from the government.”
The old freedom fighter, Gayatri Devi had been on dharna on the streets of Delhi for the past four years, fighting to get her freedom fighter’s pension restored. She was getting money from the Bihar government under the “Samman” pension scheme for freedom fighters since 1997. Though she has relevant documents to support her claim but suddenly in 2002 her pension was stopped.
She was told that her name appeared in a list of fake freedom fighters. She approached many prominent leaders and got them to write applications on her behalf, but nothing happened.
To help Gayatri Devi, CNN-IBN filed an RTI on her behalf. Soon after, the Delhi government interfered and they moved Gayatri Devi into an old age home and granted her a destitute pension. But she said that her battle will continue till the Bihar government restores her freedom fighter’s pension.
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