Kin of dead LoK sabha sTaff sTruggLing To geT dues
Some Lok Sabha staff are allegedly demanding a commission to release the funds.
The family members of a f ormer Lok Sabha employee, who had passed away due to cancer in 2011, are running from pillar to post for the last six years seeking the release of outstanding dues (GPF, gratuity, insurance, medical reimbursement) of their late sister and daughter.
However, despite, submitting all the relevant documents multiple times, the family members of Prem Lata Sharma, a permanent employee, who was work- ing as a research assistant in the Lok Sabha secretariat, have not received any due amount.
Sharma’s family members have alleged that some of the Lok Sabha staff are demanding a commission for releasing the funds that have accrued in her name.
Her elder brother Yogesh Soti, 50, who was made the nominee by her sister in all the government documents, said that the family members have lost all hope.
“We had to take loan of Rs 15 lakh from private individuals for getting my sister treated. However, the Lok Sabha secretariat has not released a single penny till now, including her GPF and gratuity. They just ask me to submit one document or the other. They are saying that they want the succession certificate despite acknowledging the nomination made by my late sister in my favour in all the government documents. She is not alive anymore, from where will I get the succession certificate? It has been six years and now I am too tired, I have lost all hope. I have tried several times, but they do not even meet me for two minutes to at least tell me why the due amount is not being released. Her former colleagues tell me that they want commission for releasing the amount, but for that too they should meet me and tell me how much they want,” Yogesh Soti, who is an employee of the Hindu College, told The Sunday Guardian.
Emails sent to the office of Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Lok Sabha secretary general Anoop Mishra and D. Bhalla, Secretary, Lok Sabha, elicited no response till the time this story went to press.
Documents accessed by The Sunday Guardian show that the mother of Prem Lata, Prakash Vati Soti, wrote multiple letters, along with all the necessary documents, no- objection certificates, and government documents proving the nominees of Prem Lata to the Lok Sabha Secretariat over a six-year period of December 2011 and May 2017, but nothing happened.
In one of the letters that she wrote to the Lok Sabha Speaker in July 2014, she stated: “I am the mother of deceased Ms Prem Lata Sharma and aged about 82 years, have made several prayers in this regard as I have exhausted huge amount for her treatment, approximately an expense of Rs 15,00,000 for her treatment, but failed to save her life. However, I would like to add that many of the medical treatment bills are still unpaid/pending with your esteemed office.”
When The Sunday Guardian approached the office of the ministry concerned (Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs) seeking reasons why the amount due to Prem Lata was not released even after six years, the officials, after a “long deliberation” stated that there were “technical issues” in the case, but failed to explain what the “issues” were.