Lone battle for aging parents in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: After junior warrant officer of Indian Air Force Rana Pratap Das died in the chopper crash along with CDS Bipin Rawat near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu in December last year, it has been a lonely and difficult battle for survival for his parents - Srivasta and Sushma Das. 

Sushma is paralysed and mentally unstable after her son’s death and fails to recognise even her husband. “My son was our only support. Sushma still thinks that he is alive and occasionally keeps asking for him. I am very proud that he died while serving the country but his death has left us orphaned,” said 68-year-old Srivasta who retired as a government clerk in 2013.

The family belongs to Krishnachandrapur village in the Angul district.

With his daughter-in-law staying with her parents and daughter residing at Athmalick with her husband, the elderly couple is left to fend for themselves. Although the family received an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh from the Odisha government after Rana’s death, the couple has saved the money for their grandson’s education.

“I and Sushma are surviving on the Rs 18,000 pension that I get every month. Our relatives help us sometimes when there is a health crisis that I can’t handle,” said Srivasta who himself is suffering from heart ailments and needs surgery. For them, this Diwali brings no cheer.  

When the mortal remains of Rana were brought to his village for the last rights, many political leaders assured him a couple of medical aid. “It is not even a year to Rana’s death but the leaders have already forgotten us. We had told the political leaders about our condition then. To date, not a single one of them has reached out to us asking for our condition,” he said.