District admin loses DD sent to deceased youth's father

KOLHAPUR: The characteristic delays and negligence of government departments have this time cost a Kolhapur family dear. Over a year after Tukaram Patil's 24-year-old son Nitin died in Muscat, the district administration has told the family it has "lost" the Rs 23 lakh demand draft that the Oman government sent as compensation through the Indian Embassy there.
Nitish Patil, who had an ITI degree , worked as an electrician in a private company in Al Buraimi in Oman. He died in a road accident on July 24, 2014. His parents, who own a small piece of land at Porewadi, about 120 km from Kolhapur city, sold their belongings to fight the compensation case in Oman. While they won the court case against the local insurance company in Oman, they seem to be losing the battle in their homeland. They have made several trips to different government offices to secure the money issued on their name, onlyto be told the DD is nowhere to be found.
The Oman government had issued a bank draft of Rs 23 lakh to the Indian Embassy, which in turn issued a Bank of Baroda demand draft on January 10, 2015 in the name of the Kolhapur district collector. The embassy in Oman even wrote to the Kolhapur district collector on February 3, a copy of which is with TOI, asking him to disburse the amount among the legal heirs of Nitish Patil. A copy of the letter was sent to the family as well and it identifies the next-of-kin of the deceased as his father Tukaram Patil. After receiving the letter, resident collector Vikrant Chavan on March 12 wrote to the Chandgad tehsildar asking him to verify Tukaram Patil's documents in two days. The collector, however, failed to deposit the demand draft.
Nearly seven months later, the family's wait for the money continues. The family said the demand draft lapsed in April and they were told that the draft was "lost" and that the collectorate required a new one. The Patil family has since made nearly 20 trips to the district collectorate to pursue the matter with all relevant documents to support their claim.
"My son went to a foreign country to ensure a better life for us. He was my elder son and the sole earning member of the family. I lost him and have nothing more to lose," said Tukaram, who has studied till Class IV. He added, "I am tired of travelling to the office now. We fought a legal battle against the insurance company with the help of my brother's friend. We got the compensation, but the bureaucracy here has hurt us more."
Nitin's uncle Parshuram Patil told TOI that theyhad met head clerk Sunita Nerlikar, where the demand draft had been received. "When we requested her to process the matter, she rudely told us she knows better how to deal with it. I do not know what the problem is and why they have been delaying the payment," he said.
The family has now written to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to intervene and demanded an inquiry into the matter. When contacted, Nerlikar refused to speak saying she had an ear infection and cannot talk.
District collector Amit Saini said, "I have received a report that the draft was pending and was then lost. I have asked additional collector Ajit Pawar and acting resident collector Sangita Chougule to investigate what exactly happened."
Chougule told TOI that the collectorate has written a letter to the Indian Embassy regarding the issue and was expecting their response. "Whatever had happened, happened. Now, we are trying to get a fresh draft from the Embassy," she said.