The Maharashtra government has sanctioned a financial aid of Rs one lakh for treatment of ailing septuagenarian singer
Mubarak Begum. "Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has sanctioned a financial assistance of
one lakh from the CM's relief fund for treatment of Mubarak Begum," an official release said here today.
The singer, now faded in oblivion, is known as the voice behind evergreen hits like
Mujhko Apne Gale Lagaa Lo, O Mere Humrahi and
Kabhi Tanhaiyon Mein Yun Hamari Yaad Aayegi, apart from
Hum Haal-e-dil Sunaenge from Bimal Roy's classic
Madhumati (1958).
Begum
is unwell for quite some time has been living a life in penury due to a tottering financial condition. She gets a monthly honorarium of Rs 1,400 from the state government and lives in a small house in Behrampauda area in western suburb of Jogeshwari with an ailing daughter and a son, who drives a taxi.
Though widely appreciated in the 1950s and the 1960s, Begum did not attain pole position in the Hindi mainstream movies.