Tumpa Kundu, 36, a homemaker-turned-cook from Birbhum’s Bolpur town, who had gone to the Duare Sarkar camp on December 1, received her Swasthya Sathi and ration cards on Friday.
The Telegraph had reported on December 2 about Tumpa’s plight.
Tumpa got widowed four years ago in East Burdwan and now lives in Bolpur town with her visually impaired father, mother and two minor sons. To fend for herself and her family, she works as a cook at people’s homes, but finds it tough to manage her household expenses.
Before the Duare Sarkar camp on December 1, Tumpa had gone around asking people, including the councillor, to help her avail government schemes and make her “home management” a bit easier. But, as she had told this newspaper earlier, specific information was scarce. People would ask her to meet officials in the district administration or at the municipality, but she was too nervous to do so.
At the Duare Sarkar camp, Tumpa finally learnt that she and her father were eligible for widow and disability pensions, respectively.
But a new problem arose. She did not know how to follow up on these pensions as she was not used to talking with officials or even if she had the relevant papers.
But when Tumpa’s plight was reported in the newspaper, government officials knocked on her doorstep and resolved some of her problems.
Tumpa was called at a government camp near her house on Friday where additional district magistrate (general) Sweta Agarwal handed her Swasthya Sathi and ration cards.
Senior government officials said they processed her application for widow pension and enrolled her name for a home under a scheme.
Officials also said Tumpa had not been getting her ration under the Khadya Sathi scheme as her ration card had not been transferred from East Burdwan, where she lived with her husband.
“We transferred her ration card from Burdwan to Bolpur, and gave her a fresh ration card,” said an official.
“We have asked the municipality to enlist her name for widow pension. Once enrolled, she will Rs 1,000 a month,” said a senior official.
“I am really happy today. I never imagined that big officials would come to know about my problems. They assured me that I will get my widow pension soon,” said Tumpa. She added that she had also learnt that her father would get a disability pension under the state government’s Manabik scheme.
District magistrate Vijay Bharti said they wanted to reach out to people left out of government schemes.