Kerala: IAF chopper crash braveheart's wife joins govt service

Sreelekshmi, the wife of Junior Warrant Officer A. Pradip -- one of the victims of the December 8, 2021 IAF helicopter crash that also killed India`s first Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and other defence officials, on Monday joined her duties as a Clerk at Taluk office in Kerala`s Trissur, Revenue Minister K Rajan said.

After the accident, during a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on December 15, it was decided to give Sreelekshmi a government job according to her qualifications.

Rajan who arrived at the Taluk office, received Sreelekshmi who had come with her two young children to take up the job of a clerk.

After signing the papers, with tears rolling down her cheeks, she said: "I am thankful to all who made this possible."

Sreelekshmi had done post-graduation in Commerce. "The state government has kept the promise and she has been given the job," Rajan said.

Apart from the job, the state government gave her Rs 5 lakh, and another Rs 3 lakh to Pradip`s ailing father for his medical treatment.

The 38-year-old Pradip`s father was a casual labourer and after he joined IAF in 2002, his father stopped going for work.