Squadron Leader (Retd) Parvez Jamasji, now 69, was awarded the Vir Chakra for bravery during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War during which he flew hundreds of sorties and received a bullet wound in the leg. The Maharashtra government recognized his valor with a Gaurav Puruskar. But in early July this year the Dadar Parsi Colony resident was asked to return Rs 2,245 to the government which claimed that he, along with some other officers, had been overpaid their allowance. A receipt for the sum sent by the war hero to the Benevolent Fund of the Department of Sainik Welfare in Poona dated July 5, 2012 acknowledges that Jamasji had repaid the excess amount received by him. Parsiana is in possession of a copy of the receipt.
The rules mandate that war veterans who have crossed the age of 65 are entitled to only 50 percent of their allowance. Jamasji’s annual amount of Rs 2,670 needed to be amended accordingly, but some clerk overlooked doing this. The former Indian Air Force (IAF) officer told Parsiana that he had been collecting this pittance for the past decade only because "if I don’t take it, someone may misuse it” and not because he needed the money. In 2003 he received a cheque for Rs 1,400 per annum from the state government; the sum was subsequently enhanced to Rs 2,670.
Jamasji’s son Rustom is incensed that the government should deem giving Rs 222 a month to a pilot who saw action as being magnanimous. Halving the sum for senior citizens of the armed forces amounts to sheer mockery, he opines. Jamasji, who uses crutches after surgeries for spinal injuries caused by a helicopter crash and a subsequent road accident, has logged over 4,500 flying hours for the IAF.