Pahalgam victim’s daughter recounts struggle in receiving promised govt job

Pune: Asawari Jagdale said Tuesday that she is still fighting to get the government position that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde promised her family ten months after the Pahalgam terror attack that killed her father.

In the terror incident that claimed 26 lives, Santosh Jagdale and six other Maharashtra residents were killed. The Maharashtra government offered government jobs and financial support to the deceased's surviving family members after the incident.

Speaking to IANS, Asawari expressed frustration over the delay and said her family had to repeatedly approach officials and ministers without receiving any clear response.

“It has been 10 months since the assurance of giving jobs, but I was not getting any response. During the process, I spoke to a few people. I met many ministers and PAs, but we did not get any expected reply from them,” she said.

Asawari said there was a time when the family had almost lost hope. However, she credited the intervention of BJP leader Medha Kulkarni for helping them move forward, IANS reported.

“There was a time when we had left hope. But there was a brother who suggested that I go to Medha Kulkarni Tai. She assured us that she would help us. Recently, she went to Delhi. While she was there, we spoke on the phone. Then my mother suggested why not talk to Amit Shah ji. She wrote a letter to him and shared all the details,” Asawari said.

She further recalled that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had visited Srinagar on April 23, 2025, to pay tribute, which renewed her hope of getting support, however, nothing happened.

The issue gained wider attention only after Medha Kulkarni posted about it recently, following which several media organisations reached out to the family.

“Due to Medha Tai’s post, the media connected with us. Yesterday, many news channels and newspapers covered it. It also reached Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and he ordered the Pune municipal authorities to issue orders for my job,” she said.

Expressing gratitude, Asawari added, “I want to thank Shinde ji. With his help, things are now falling into place.”

She said her family faced several difficulties during the process and credited her mother for standing strong throughout.

“The only difficulty was that we were not able to reach Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. It became harder because elections were happening. I request that until I get the job, he should continue to look into our matter,” she said.

Asawari said she has not yet received the official documentation and hopes the formal process will be completed within this week.