A decaying paper which has given away at the folds and has been stuck together with strips, besides being frayed at the edges, is all 75-year-old Joginder Singh has to prove the bravery of his father. The paper was also to be the basis for a comfortable old age to the man but this has not come about.

Joginder Singh has been trying to get the second life pension of the “Jangi Inam” instituted by the British for Indian soldiers who fought for the empire on foreign shores in World War I. The “Jangi Inam”, as the pension is called, was Rs 5 per month in 1919 but has been revised periodically. This pension is unique as it was for two lives. Joginder’s father, Sapper Dewan Singh, who fought in Basra (Iraq) during World War I, received it during his lifetime.

However, after the death of Sapper Dewan Singh in 1976, Joginder Singh has been unable to get this pension despite having taken up the case several times with the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions), Allahabad, in the past more than two decades. “Though I have no written record, I was given to understand by the Allahabad-based Defence office that my file has been misplaced as a result of which my case has not been processed till now”. With the entire file missing, Joginder is lucky to be still in possession of the original British document which details his father’s service as well as states the award of the “Jangi Inam” to him.

Joginder Singh is a broken man. He is living in a two-room house in the Hira Mahal area in the town along with his two married sons and their families. “Even the ‘veda’ (verandah) of my house is ‘kutcha’ because we have not been able to renovate the house once the family started expanding without any increase in the livelihood of its members,” says Joginder. Both his sons are running a small tyre shop in the Khalsa Gate locality here.

The old man’s sons say they have taken up the case of their father’s pension periodically but without success. Joginder Singh’s nephew, Mr Jatinderpal Singh, who is an Executive Engineer in the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), recently took up his case with the Army authorities in view of his uncle’s poor financial situation. Showing a letter in this regard, he said the Adjutant-General at the Army Headquarters had also sent a note regarding his case to the Allahabad office in June, 2002, but even this did not have any effect. The note clearly states that even the Ministry of Defence has ratified that the “Jangi Inam” for World War II veterans and their legal heirs is for two lives.

Even though all efforts to get the pension have failed till now, Joginder Singh still has not lost hope.