Kin of 5 deceased firemen get job

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 20

A year after nine firemen lost their lives in the collapse of Polymar Amarsons factory at Suffian Chowk after a fire, the Local Bodies Department on Tuesday gave job letters to the kin of five deceased. In the remaining four cases, job letters are yet to be given to the deceased’s kin due to some pending formalities.

Appointment letters were given to the kin of the deceased firefighters in the presence of Local Bodies Minister Novjot Singh Sidhu, MLA Surinder Dawar, Mayor Balkar Sandhu and officials of the Fire Department.

The appointment letters were given to Tushar Sharma, son of senior fire officer Rajinder Sharma; Parminder Singh, son of senior fire officer Raj Kumar; Sahil Gill, son of senior fire officer Samaun Gill; Bhupinder Singh, son of leading fireman Puran Singh; and Rakha Rani, wife of fireman Rajan. They were handed the appointment letters in Chandigarh.

Wait for sometime, MLA tells kin of deceased

Dawar said the kin of the remaining four deceased firemen would have to wait for sometime, as some formalities were still pending. In two cases, family members were minor while in the other two cases, there was a dispute over deciding the candidate for the job, he said.

The remaining four candidates are Navan Hans, son of leading fireman Manohar Lal; wife or brother of fireman Sukhdev Singh, brother of fireman Vishal Kumar and the sister of fireman Manpreet Singh.

Sources said in the cases of Sukhdev and Manpreet, the Finance and Contracts Committee was yet to take the final call. Navan is a minor and he has been assured that he will be given a job once he completes 18 years of age. In the fourth case, MC House will deliberate on Vikas Kumar’s candidature because his mother is already employed in the MC.

Meanwhile, Parkash Kaur, wife of deceased fireman Sukhdev Singh, said she had three minor daughters to raise, but her in-laws now wanted the job for her husband’s brother. “Since I gave birth to three daughters, my in-laws’ attitude towards me is step-motherly. I am now living at my paternal house. I request minister Navjot Singh Sidhu to consider my eligibility for the job,” she said after attending a tribute ceremony held at fire office near Clock Tower on Tuesday.