Ramanathapuram
Several revenue department officials were caught on the wrong foot at the public grievances redressal meeting here on Monday when Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao asked them to explain the eligibility for a widow to get ‘destitute widow certificate’ and conducted an on-the-spot ‘written test’ on the subject.
When a middle aged woman, carrying a child, presented a petition to the Collector, stating that she could not get destitute widow certificate despite several attempts, Mr. Rao asked a revenue official from the block concerned to explain the eligibility mentioned in the Government Order for issuing the certificate.
When the woman official fumbled, the Collector asked officials from other blocks to spell out the eligibility only to be surprised by wrong answers and a host of conditions put forth by them.
While one official said the annual income of the widow applicant should not exceed ₹ 24,000, other said it should not exceed ₹21,000 and another official said the income should not exceed ₹ 48,000.
They also said the applicant should live in a thatched roof house, should own no property and have no dependent. As the officials gave varied and incorrect answers, Mr Rao lost his cool and criticised them for being unaware of the Government Order.
At one stage, he asked the officials to write down the eligibility and in the ‘written test’ too, they contradicted one another.
Later, Mr Rao said a widow could be issued the destitute widow certificate if her total monthly income from all sources did not exceed ₹ 4,000. She could live in a concrete house and even own a couple of acres of land but as long as her monthly income from all the sources was below ₹ 4,000.
Pointing out that the officials fixed their own rules and guidelines, he said, “You would do gross injustice to petitioners, if you denied them the certificate due to your ignorance of the Government Order,” he said.
