PM ushers in 'acche din' for woman professor

Thanks to the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a woman assistant professor has finally got her gratuity from a leading institute here after running from pillar to post since 2013.

Assistant professor Kavita Surabhi said she was harassed for many months for her gratuity which she sought from the institute where she worked between 2007 and 2013. She finally got justice when her letter to the prime minister was not only acknowledged but was also taken to its logical conclusion with the management of the law college at a university in Noida.

Chasing the amount of Rs.40,000 had become a "major pain" as the management of the law college was stone-walling her. She had knocked the doors of everyone from the accountant to the founder member of the college, she said.

She finally thought of knocking the doors of the Prime Minister's Office and was "pleasantly surprised" to receive an acknowledgement to her petition.

"I wrote to the prime minister in July 2014, hoping that the problem will be attended to," Surabhi told IANS. She received a prompt reply on her email.

She was asked to go and meet the labour commissioner and brief the official about the problem she was facing. The copy of the mail was also sent to the university's founder member.

Her 'acche din' (good days) - as promised by Modi during his poll campaign - finally came when the gratuity amount of Rs.40,000 was immediately raised to Rs.1.6 lakh and paid to her within no time, she said.

Currently pursuing her masters in law, Surabhi said she was overjoyed at the fact that her gratuity was given at the behest of the prime minister.

Stating that she needed the money to pursue her education, she said she will remain indebted to Modi as his intervention came at a time when she had given up hope.

She said she has since been flooded by requests from one-time peers who were facing the same problem and were now seeking her help.

"Many suffering from the same problem are now writing to the PMO, hoping that they too would be heard," she said.