Pradheesh P S is a daily wage welding worker, but now he is on a mission seeking justice against EPFO officials in Kochi allegedly responsible for his father’s tragic death. Pradheesh’s father K P Sivaraman of Thrissur in Kerala died by suicide after he was allegedly denied provident fund amount by EPFO. Though the EPFO eventually released the funds after his father’s death, Pradheesh has decided to seek legal recourse against the EPFO officials as a social commitment to ensure accountability and prevent such tragedies from recurring.
The 69-year-old Sivaraman, distraught by repeated denials of his provident fund amount allegedly by the EPFO officials despite earnest attempts to procure it, recently committed suicide by consuming poison at the premises of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) office, Kaloor, Kochi. Though the EPFO officials released the funds immediately after Sivaraman’s death, his son Pradheesh is determined to fight the case against the officials to ensure that no family should face the situation they faced.
“They made my father run from pillar to post for nine years. He desperately tried to get the provident fund, but the officers kept on asking for different documents to purposefully delay it. When my father’s death resulted in a protest and agitation, they transferred the money without any issues to wash their hands of the responsibility of pushing my father to take the extreme step,” Pradheesh told “Open Digest.”
Though the police have registered a case in connection with the incident, no official has been booked. “I have moved the Kerala High Court seeking a directive to book the officials who are responsible for my father’s death. My fight is to prevent others from enduring similar suffering,” he said.
Pradheesh’s decision reflects a deep-seated commitment to holding authorities accountable and effecting meaningful change within the administrative apparatus. “My father’s death must not be in vain. No one else should suffer the anguish and injustice he endured. By seeking accountability, we honour his memory and strive for a more just society,” he said, adding that his father was an ordinary layman who didn’t have much education and schooling.
“He slogged all his life as a worker in a company to eke out a living, and when he approached the EPFO office for his PF amount, they asked him to submit his school leaving certificate for confirming his identity,” Pradheesh added.
This is long due in Kerala. I am aware of the similar behaviour of retired Government officials who take positions of power in private organisations. Let us wait to listen to the court.