The Government of Haryana announced a grant of 1 Lakh rupees to help a promising boxer fight cancer. Only that it came a bit late. She had already passed away 3 days ago. Worse , as if to save itself some embarassment, the government issued a condolence message soon after.
The Boxer in question here was Megha Bharadwaj. Times of India carried a report on the same,
It couldn’t get more ironical than this. Displaying an utterly callous attitude, the Haryana government on Tuesday announced “all possible help and a grant of Rs 1 lakh” for Megha Bhardwaj, three days after the promising national-level boxer had died due to cancer.
Authorities, caught in red tape, were either blissfully unaware that the pugilist had died or didn’t care about it. However, after someone told them about this dreadful mistake, a second press release was sent off, this time as a condolence message. Later, Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and state minister for sports Kiran Choudhry expressed “deep shock” on the death of Megha.
“What good is it now,” asked a bitter Dinesh Bhardwaj, Megha’s father. He recalled how he ran from pillar to post to get some help from the chief minister’s relief fund even as his sick daughter fought for life.
“But officials in the deputy commissioner’s office and the civil surgeon’s office have all along dealt with my case in the most insensitive and inhuman manner,” he wept. “Health authorities even refused to give a simple estimate certificate, which was needed for the relief. The case moved at such a snail’s pace in the DC office that this had to happen. The file is still lying in Sirsa due to bureaucratic hurdles.”
Bhardwaj, who worked in a private organization, had to resign from his job and the family sold off all its jewelry and a residential plot to meet the expenses of Megha’s treatment. And it was only after The Times of India highlighted the case that the young boxer started getting some sort of financial aid from a few benevolent persons.
Megha, a student of Maharaja Agarsen School in Sirsa, was diagnosed to be suffering from round cell cancer more than a year ago. She was 15 when she died.
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