Hospital peon not paid salary for 10 years

LUDHIANA: Fifty-seven-year-old Rakesh Bhonsle had never imagined that his son and wife would have to take care of the family''s financial needs instead of him.
A regular peon in the CMC Hospital, Bhonsle has not been paid his salary (Rs 4,000) for the last ten years. His fault: he refused to give up the possession of a one room quarter in Dai Hata on Downing Street, he was handed over by hospital supervisor Aishley G Issiah in August 1994.
Bhonsle along with his wife and three children had approached the supervisor after the roof of his single room in Khud Mohalla began to leak.Admitting that the arrangement was meant to be temporary, the peon claimed, ''''Since all the employees of the hospital get houses after two years, I am entitled to the house as I have served for the last 17 years.''''
The hospital authorities started not paying his salary from October 1994 by marking in his salary slip that the amount was being deducted for repairs of the house. Bhonsle, on the other hand, alleged that no repairs were undertaken. Claiming that the rent of the house was Rs 300, he said he was ready to pay up the amount but the rest should be returned to him.
While Bhonsle, who retires in another three years, carries on working in the hospital with a hope that he would get his salary back, the family continues to face one hardship after another. ''''I wanted to do BSc (nursing), but my parents cannot afford it,'''' said Bhonsle''s daughter Josephine who completed her class 12 with great difficulty. To help the family meet both ends, Bhonsle''s wife Naaz began working as baby-sitter while her son, who had to give up studies, got a job as a salesman.
Meanwhile, deputy medical superintendent Dr Rajeev Kapoor said that there was no account of Bhonsle seeking permission to live in the house. Instead, he broke into the house and refused to vacate it later. As per the rules of the CMC, he was being fined Rs 150 per day for the offence which is being deducted from his salary each month, said Kapoor.