BSF soldier’s village boycotts bypoll over aid

MANDYA: The residents of Agraharabachahalli village in Mandya district have unanimously decided to boycott the Lok Sabha bypoll later this month. They feel the government has let down the family of J Jayaramegowda, a 35-year-old BSF soldier, who drowned a month ago in the Surma river in Mizoram near the Indo-Bangladesh border.
They’ve put up his cut-out along with a banner at the entrance to the village which denounces the government for not giving any compensation to his family though it’s in dire straits.
His wife Mamata, 28, is yet to receive a communique from the BSF headquarters about monetary relief. “All I got from BSF officers on the day of the cremation was the national flag which covered the coffin and Rs 23,000. I didn’t get any assurance of how I could take care of my 18-month-old girl as I’ve no source of income. I haven’t received any help from the state government either,” she said.
She said her husband’s family owns only 3 acres of dry land shared by his four brothers. “A senior BSF officer came to the village and collected details about my family, saying the information was required for deciding the amount of compensation but there’s been no word after that,” she said.
Mamata recalls how she was offered a temporary job of an anganwadi worker by the local MLA. “He said it would be given if there was a vacancy but I asked for a government job, at least of a second division clerk,” she said. She recalled the last time she spoke with her husband on July 10. “He talked for ten minutes, saying he had to carry food by boat to his colleagues in nearby posts. A day later, BSF officers told me my husband had drowned,” she said.