Lokayukta’s background check helps cop’s widow

After years of agonising wait, a police widow’s dream to provide a secure home for her daughter has been realised.

The police widow, presently attached to Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement (DCRE) cell in Urva stores, who struggled for seven years to realise her dream, had almost given up, when her efforts to get a housing site in MUDA’s (Mangaluru Urban Development Authority) U Srinivas Mallya Layout did not yield any results.

“After my husband, a police constable passed away due to malaria, I was determined on providing a protective environment for my daughter, studying in third standard at the time,” the policewoman reveals on conditions of anonymity. Her application for a housing site though approved by MUDA was rejected by Regional Commissioner in Mysuru.

“None of the relatives came to my help as our marriage was inter-religion marriage. It was a lonely battle for seven long years. I had lost count on the number of visits to Mysuru or Vidhan Soudha,” she says. Disappointed, she approached the MUDA officials and asked for a refund of Rs 51,500, she had deposited during the sanctioning of the site, in October 2012.

Moved by her plight Vishwanath Alekady of Dalit Sangarsh Samaithi (DSS) filed a complaint with Lokayukta.

“Vishwanath used to visit office to submit RTI applications and thus got to know about my plight,” she told DH. “During a hearing at the Lokayukta’s office in Bengaluru, I had clarified that I was not a Dalit, but of Christian faith. I had gratefully accepted the help as I was in no position to approach Lokayukta or any courts on my own,” she said.

Sources in Mangaluru Lokayukta confirmed that Lokayukta Chief Justice P Vishwanath Shetty had ordered Mangaluru Lokayukta police to do a confidential background check on DSS in order to remove suspicions that the police widow was being cheated.

The Mangaluru Lokayukta submitted a detailed background report declaring that the intentions of the DSS leader were genuine. Lokayukta Chief Justice Vishwanath Shetty attached the background report with their order recommending housing site for the policewoman under ‘F’ category (for dependents of government employees who pass away while in service) to Under Secretary (Urban Development).

Subsequently the cabinet headed by Chief Minister approved Lokayukta’s recommendation and sanctioned the housing site. “The seven years of single-handed struggle was the darkest phase of my life. I somehow gathered the courage to live by,” the policewoman reveals.

Though the banks dilly-dally on releasing a housing loan to a single parent, the police widow remains optimistic about her and her daughter’s future.