Saturday, February 28, 2009

Karkare family gets relief, finally....

In honour of slain former ATS chief Hemant Karkare, Mahanagar Gas will today allot a CNG station to his family.

The CNG station will be located at Tardeo and the Karkares will be felicitated by Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora.

Karkare, along with encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar and Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte, were killed by terrorists on November 26 during the Mumbai terror attacks. He is survived by his wife Kavitha and children Juhi, Sayali and Akash.

This piece of news is welcome. I wonder what took it so long for the govt to do something for the family of Karkare. And I am also amazed at this gesture. This will probably be the first time that such a generous gift is being given away to a slain cop. I am ashamed to think that in a country where Abhinav Bhindra gets crores for winning a medal, the dead NSG commandos have only earned a measly lakh or two. While Bhindra does not really need the money, the families of these dead soldiers could use some financial help. But for a reason that escapes my little brain, our govt thinks that 2-3 lakhs is enough to feed a family forever. Maybe it's because the govt officials do not really pay any bills, so probably they are unaware of the "badhti hui mehengai"...?

I don't mean to undermine Bhindra's success. His medal is a source of honor, pride and inspiration for everyone. But can it be compared to laying down one's life for the country?

I laud this gesture of the Union Pertoleum & Natural Gas ministry. And I hope that we, as a nation, can make life a little less difficult for the families of our dead soldiers.

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