<p>The family of late Sergeant Dev Raj Singh Thakur, who caught Mahatma Gandhi’s killer Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948, at Birla House in Delhi, lives in penury at a town in Himachal Pradesh.<br /><br /></p>.<p>For over a decade, the family has been demanding a government job for at least a kin of gallantry award winner Thakur. The family has no breadwinner.<br /><br />“The state government has not fulfilled its promise to give a job to a family member as a special case,” said Sumitra, daughter-in-law of Thakur.<br /><br />She said she met chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal in 2010, and asked him to give a job to one of her two sons. Dhumal then assured her that her eldest son will be considered for employment as a special case, she said.<br /><br />“Five months ago, an official of the state secretariat told me that my son cannot be appointed,” said 54-year-old Sumitra, who is a widow. <br /><br />Of Thakur’s three sons, the eldest one passed away in 2005 while the other two do not live in Himachal Pradesh. <br /><br />Sumitra said Thakur, who was awarded the Ashok Chakra, died in May 1987 without any recognition.<br /><br />“In 2008, the government had promised to give a job to a family member and had sought Thakur’s records. Then it forgot its promise,” she said.<br /><br />Thakur, who had also served in the Indian Air Force, was asked to retire early. He was subsequently admitted to a mental hospital at Amritsar in Punjab.<br /><br />He stayed there for 14 years. Till the time he died, he got a monthly pension from the Centre.<br /><br />The Sainik Welfare Board office in Nahan said the country’s first President in 1952 had awarded a prestigious gallantry award to Thakur for nabbing Godse.<br /><br />“Only the award winner’s widow or dependent children can claim a government job,” said Yograj Chauhan, the board’s deputy director.<br /><br />Sixty-four years ago, while Gandhi was on his way to attend a prayer meeting at Birla House, he was shot from close range by Godse, a Hindu nationalist.</p>
<p>The family of late Sergeant Dev Raj Singh Thakur, who caught Mahatma Gandhi’s killer Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948, at Birla House in Delhi, lives in penury at a town in Himachal Pradesh.<br /><br /></p>.<p>For over a decade, the family has been demanding a government job for at least a kin of gallantry award winner Thakur. The family has no breadwinner.<br /><br />“The state government has not fulfilled its promise to give a job to a family member as a special case,” said Sumitra, daughter-in-law of Thakur.<br /><br />She said she met chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal in 2010, and asked him to give a job to one of her two sons. Dhumal then assured her that her eldest son will be considered for employment as a special case, she said.<br /><br />“Five months ago, an official of the state secretariat told me that my son cannot be appointed,” said 54-year-old Sumitra, who is a widow. <br /><br />Of Thakur’s three sons, the eldest one passed away in 2005 while the other two do not live in Himachal Pradesh. <br /><br />Sumitra said Thakur, who was awarded the Ashok Chakra, died in May 1987 without any recognition.<br /><br />“In 2008, the government had promised to give a job to a family member and had sought Thakur’s records. Then it forgot its promise,” she said.<br /><br />Thakur, who had also served in the Indian Air Force, was asked to retire early. He was subsequently admitted to a mental hospital at Amritsar in Punjab.<br /><br />He stayed there for 14 years. Till the time he died, he got a monthly pension from the Centre.<br /><br />The Sainik Welfare Board office in Nahan said the country’s first President in 1952 had awarded a prestigious gallantry award to Thakur for nabbing Godse.<br /><br />“Only the award winner’s widow or dependent children can claim a government job,” said Yograj Chauhan, the board’s deputy director.<br /><br />Sixty-four years ago, while Gandhi was on his way to attend a prayer meeting at Birla House, he was shot from close range by Godse, a Hindu nationalist.</p>