Widow of martyred major wins four-year battle for benefits

FOREIGN LANGUAGE OPTION LIKELY TO BE DROPPED

The four-year-old battle waged by Aakriti Singh Sood, widow of Major Anuj Sood who was martyred while rescuing civilians held hostage by terrorists in Kashmir in May 2020, came to an end on Wednesday.

She had been running from pillar to post, seeking benefits from the Maharashtra government.

However, the babus had refused to grant her request on the grounds that Major Sood was not domiciled in Maharashtra for 15 years continuously and was also not born in the state. Aakriti had pointed out that her husband had a defence background, which entailed frequent transfers. But he had a permanent address in Pune and this was reflected in his Aadhaar and PAN cards.

She finally moved Bombay High Court, which gave her a patient hearing and asked the state government to grant her prayers as a special case. However, the government did not respond positively on the last date of hearing.

The FPJ had then started a campaign through its print and online editions and its social media platforms like Instagram and X, which received a huge response. Several political leaders followed the FPJ campaign and took up the matter with the government. Finally, the government informed the HC on Wednesday that it had decided to grant her financial benefits.

She was keen to get the financial award before May 2, 2024, the fourth death anniversary of her husband, who was posthumously awarded the Shaurya Chakra. During the hearing on Wednesday, Advocate-General Birendra Saraf told a bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and Firdosh Pooniwalla that the government had decided to grant financial benefits to Aakriti Sood and Chandrakant Sood, Anuj’s father. A GR has also been issued to put the government decision into effect.

According to the GR, the state has considered the case of the Aakriti Sood as a special case and in the “light of the observations made by the high court” (on earlier occasions), it has decided to grant financial benefits to her and her father-in-law, Chandrakant Sood.

The State is likely to roll out the National Education Policy 2020 for Class IX, from the upcoming 2024-25 academic year, bringing in a bunch of changes including doing away with foreign languages.

Reliable government sources revealed to The Goan that senior education officials recently convened a closeddoor meeting with headmasters, laying out the details along with the assurance that any questions from institutions, headmasters and teachers will be addressed.

“Many changes are expected to ease the academic burden on students, as it will be combined with interdisciplinary subjects. However, the government will ensure that students don’t compromise on academics,” the source said.

Another official also stated that the authorities are

seriously considering implementing the NEP for Class IX. It has come to the fore that each class period will stretch to one hour, unlike the usual 45 minutes. Some attendees raised concerns about other classes still having 45-minute periods, during the marathon meeting on Monday, to which

the senior education officials assured to resolve it.

“Timetable details will be chalked out... If there are any questions, headmasters/ principals can email the department, and officials will sort it out at the earliest to ensure NEP's implementation,” the source added.

The department also plans to scrap foreign languages as a third language option while also contemplating renaming the first, second, and third languages as R-1, R-2, and R-3 respectively.

“R-1 will be English whereas R-2 and R-3 options will be strictly Indian languages.

Since some schools have already offered this option for the 2024-25 academic year, the department has allowed it to continue with the decision to drop it in the subsequent academic year,” the source said.

As for foreign language teachers, the department will “take care of them.”