Financial assistance to the widow of a naik from Manipur
Nk Damchuilung of ASC retired from service in Jun 2013 but unfortunately died soon after on 11 Nov 2013. He left behind his young wife, Zalengkim and two very young children.
When her husband died, the village elders and her in-laws insisted that tribal customs be followed. This involved erecting a memorial stone and serving a feast to all the villagers. For this, she incurred an expenditure of approx Rs 4 lakhs. She was forced to pawn her pension book / give away ATM card to a loan shark. The money lender draws Rs 12,000/- interest only (No reduction in the principal amount). Another loan of 75,000/- taken from a bank is being repaid at the rate of Rs 5000/- per month from the pension. This leaves her with about Rs 3000/- with which to support her large family.
Mrs Zalengkim has been working as a safaiwali (sweeper) in ECHS Polyclinic, Imphal for the past three and a half years, living in a rented house. But her contract has now ended and she is jobless; she may have to return to her village. Her two daughters are presently studying in class 1 & class 6. She also supports her aged parents, a disabled widowed sister with her two children and a 38 year old unmarried brother, a daily wage labourer. They hail from a remote hill village in Tamenglong district of Manipur. A total of nine family members are dependent on her earnings and the pension she receives.
Col LM Singh, OIC of ECHS Polyclinic, Imphal, has certified to the dedication, commitment and sincerity of Mrs Zalengkim. Moved by her plight, he has been seeking help of other groups/ coursemates to help her out from her desperate condition and provide some sort of employment to her. One such NDA coursemate was Col N Sitaramaiah (Retd), a member of the Core Committee of TSEWA.
Col N Sitaramaiah brought this case to the notice of Core Committee at the meeting held on 07 Sep 2019. The matter was discussed and it was decided that the case was genuine and worthy of help from TSEWA. Cmde Sudheer Parakala, Vice President and President Charity Division immediately approved payment of Rs 25,000 from the Charity budget.
The same day, Brig C S Vidyasagar, President, TSEWA sent out urgent messages on mail as well as Whatsapp to all TSEWA members requesting for financial assistance to help this poor young widow out of her financial distress.
Immediately, there was tremendous response and TSEWA started receiving a flood of contributions from members and non members. Approximately Rs 3.5 lakhs has been donated as of 09 Sep 2019.
Our aim is to raise funds so that the entire loan can be paid back and she gets back her pension book and ATM card from the money lender and as well as money for the maintenance of her family in future. Efforts are also being made to find her some gainful employment as well as educational grants for her children.
All donors can avail of relief under Section 80(G) which allows for 50% IT relief on their contributions to TSEWA.
Details for remitting donations are as under:
(a) Account Name : TSEWA
(b) Account Number : 35088276014
(c) Bank: SBI, Bhaskar Rao Nagar, Secunderabad – 500094
(d) IFSC: SBIN 0015568
TSEWA gratefully acknowledges the contributions received towards this noble cause.