Pabitra Das (30), who lost her husband Sanjay Das (38) in a landmine blast during the Lok Sabha elections at Jhargram on April 30, has not yet received the compensation amount of Rs 10 lakh, which was announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Sanjay, whose vehicle had been hired for election purpose by the district administration, died when suspected Maoists triggered a landmine blast in the area. Two others, Prasad Banerjee and Sougata Karmakar — both Belpahari panchayat officials — were also killed in the blast that took place at Jambani forest in Jhargram.

The block office at Belpahari has, however, given Pabitra a job under the NREGA and she has been working for the last 12 days.

Pabitra’s uncle Siddhartha Das told The Indian Express over telephone from Silda, Jhargram, that they did not receive any letter from the ECI or the state government about the compensation. Instead, Pabitra was offered a job in the Belpahari block office under the NREGA scheme and she started working immediately. According to Das, Pabitra would get Rs 81 daily for 100 days work in a year. Apart from this, the BDO of Belphahari has also asked Pabitra to submit the bill for books bought for her two children, Monalisa and Manoj.

When contacted Belpahari Block Divisional Officer Bhaskar Pal confirmed that Pabitra Das is working under the NREGA.

Das said after Sanjay’s death, officials from the Belpahari block had visited their residence at Silda and had assured them that they would get the compensation. As Sanjay was the only earning member of the family, Pabitra has been going through a lot of difficulty, he added.

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