Police department’s typo ‘kills’ retired cop, delays his pension

A 58-year-old retired constable almost pinched himself when he learnt from the police commissioner's office that he was 'dead'. Balwantsinh Parmar was at his wits' end when he read a letter from the department mentioning him as a deceased. He had served the department for 33 years with the hectic job leaving him little time for his family. And now when he wanted to marry off his three children, he got a letter saying he would be granted retirement benefits as per rules applicable to deceased pensioner.Parmar lives in Sudarshan Nagar, Chandkheda, with his wife, three sons, a daughter, daughter-in-law and grandchildren.
He joined the police force in 1983 as a constable with the armoured police section and retired from service in May this year. However, that letter he received on July 30 this year had him running to the police department to prove that he was very much alive. He planned to use the pension money and other emoluments to get his children married and buy a house. "I received the letter from the police department on July 30 and was shocked. It said that since I am dead my family would receive pension as per specified rules," said Parmar.
Thereafter Parmar rushed to police commissioner's office and pointed out the blooper to the officials at PC headquarter's F4 department. They admitted their mistake and said it would be corrected. However, Parmar is disappointed with the turn of events. "I still have two unmarried daughters and a son. I have to bear household expenses as well. Besides, I live in government quarters and need to vacate within six months of retirement. Two months have already passed and I have not received pension or gratuity. I do not know how much more time it will take for the officials to rectify the mistake and release the amount. It does not look like it will be done any time soon," he said.
"I gave 33 years of my life to this job. My service record is clean. I have a family of eight and we need money to run the house. This blunder from the department has put us in great difficulty," he added. In-charge Additional CP (Head Quarter) R V Jotangia said, "This mistake (of showing the constable as deceased) is not our doing. It is the accounts department that is responsible. We have asked them to sort out the matter." Additional Commissioner of Police (Admin) R J Savani said, "It was a typing error and was not intentional. It has been brought to our notice and will be rectified."