Date:07/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/07/stories/2008100760631200.htm

National

Laxmi Panda passes away

Staff Reporter

She was not provided freedom fighters’ pension
She was forced to do odd jobs to earn a living

NEW DELHI: Veteran freedom fighter Laxmi Panda passed away at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here on Monday after prolonged illness.

The octogenarian was a member of Subhash Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army (INA) that fought against the British during the Second World War. She was enlisted in the Rani Jhansi Regiment and was given the name “Indira” by Bose himself.

Brain damage

Ms. Panda was shifted to AIIMS by the Orissa government following directions from President Pratibha Patil’s office. According to an official at AIIMS, Ms. Panda was brought in with serious brain damage due to a stroke. Despite the treatment, her condition deteriorated and she passed away on Monday afternoon.

Ms. Panda was in the Capital in August to witness the Independence Day celebrations. She later met the President and expressed disappointment that despite being a freedom fighter, she had been overlooked by the government and was not even provided the freedom fighter’s pension.

Since there were no jail records to prove her role as freedom fighter, Ms. Panda was forced to earn her living by doing odd jobs. To raise her family after her husband’s death, Ms. Panda also worked as a domestic help.

A multilingual person, Ms. Panda was fluent in Burmese and Hindi. She was proud of having served the country and struggled for its Independence. As Ms. Panda was not arrested by the British at the Chittagong Harbour she remained ineligible for the Swatantrata Sainik Samman pension given by the government.

President’s gesture

It was following the President’s intervention that Ms. Panda’s name was included in the list of Swatantrata Sainik Samman pension. The President had also offered Ms. Panda Rs. 10,000 during their meeting at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The announcement of her pension, however, came when Ms. Panda was admitted at the SCB Medical College Hospital in Cuttack.

President Pratibha Patil has expressed grief over the demise of veteran freedom fighter who joined the INA at the age of 14.