Thiruvananthapuram, Malayalam superstar-turned-politician Suresh Gopi will take up the cause of an 84-year-old retired woman engineer of All India Radio who is currently residing in a church-run old age home here.
K.V. Radha Rani, along with her daughter, lives in the old age home with the hope of getting her end of service benefits and pension after her service was terminated abruptly by the A.I.R in 1986. Her dreams of getting the benefits seemed far-fetched till BJP Rajya Saba MP Suresh Gopi's attention was drawn to her plight.
Soon after Radha Rani graduated in B.Sc. Physics from a leading college in Kollam, she joined as a staff in the office of the world's first democratically elected Communist government of EMS Nampoothiripad, here way back in 1957.
After the government was dismissed, she studied her engineering and moved to Delhi where she worked with the ONGC briefly and then joined All India Radio where she put in over two decades of service before being terminated.
She took active part in a strike while working in Delhi for service related issues in the early 80's and managed to win.
While working with ONGC, she married a Punjabi colleague, but he passed away years ago. Her her daughter is a Ph.D holder in Geography and worked as a teacher.
Today the mother-daughter duo are not in their best of their emotional and mental health and are holed up at an old age home.
The BJP MP came forward to help to ensure that the elderly gets her dues and dignity in society.
"Yes, I will take up the case like what I have done for many others in the past. Since she worked with All India Radio, I will have to ascertain the reason for her termination before taking it up with the highest echelons of power in Delhi," said Gopi.
Till recently, Rani led a life of a recluse.
Her house at Anjengo near the popular tourist destination at Varkala in the capital district is in a dilapidated condition.
Incidentally, her father retired as a top banker from the State Bank of Travancore and despite having a Central government job, she and her educated teacher daughter live in abject poverty.