Bhawanipatna: Family members of cotton farmer Bahadur Rana, who ended his life by consuming poison at Madiguda village under Sadar block in Kalahandi district, have fallen on bad days.
With no aid coming from the administration, Rana’s minor children have given up studies and are helping their widowed mother, who is now the sole breadwinner of the family.
Instead of getting admission in a college, Rana’s elder daughter, Pinky Rana, a Class X pass-out is doing odd jobs with her mother to make both ends meet. Similar is the condition of Rana’s 13-year-old son Makarand.
The boy has left for Mumbai to work. He returns during farming season and helps in cultivation. The rest of the year, he works as a bonded labourer.
The district administration is least bothered after it provided compensation of Rs 10,000 from Red Cross Fund and a mere Rs 2,000 from the Harishchandra Yojana.
Even as politicians made a beeline to the village and used Rana’s death for political gain, the family has not received help from the administration.
Earlier, Bhawanipatna Sadar block additional BDO Sridhar Panda, District Agriculture Officer Ashok Amat, Narayan Upadhayay and others had visited the village and taken stock of the situation. However, no help has been provided to the family yet.
Rana’s daughter Pink is willing to continue her studies, but financial constraint has stood as an obstacle for the family. The only person studying is Rana’s little daughter who attends a government school. Even as the family runs from pillar to post to get compensation, no one pays heed to them, they alleged.
Villagers sympathised with the family and demanded that the administration provide necessary help for the bereaved family.
It may be noted here that Bahadur Rana had committed suicide August 5, 2018 due to crop loss and debt-burden.
PNN
