JOIN USSepoy Balbir Singh had left his home at village Shaleri for his unit (15 Sikh Light Infantry) at Bathinda on October 10, 1990 but never reported to the unit.
Brigadier Indrajeet Singh Gakhal, Director of Sainik Welfare (Punjab), presented the jawan's wife Palwinder Kaur with pension documents at the Directorate head office.
Kaur would receive a monthly pension of Rs 3,500 besides more than Rs three lakh as arrears, an official spokesman said.
A few months before the woman had learnt that her husband had been declared as a deserter. Kaur, then, informed local police that her husband had gone missing, but efforts to trace him failed.
She went from pillar to post as there was no other bread earner for the family which included three infants.
During all these years, Kaur kept on approaching army authorities for pension but in vain as her claim was rejected on technical reasons.
It was in this period District Sainik Welfare Office (Fatehgarh Sahib) kept on providing some financial help to the family.
Kaur's sorrows did not end as she along with her children was thrown out of her husband's house by in-laws and forced to take shelter with her mother at Tarkheri village.
The case for pension to Palwinder Kaur was taken up fresh with Army Authorities in the beginning of 2008.
In the meantime, the woman was employed in Sainik Vocational Training Center, Fatehgarh Sahib, to provide her financial independence.