Paradip: Despite orders from High Court to provide a piece of land, the apathy of the administration has compounded the woes of an elderly landless couple – Ishwar Khatua and his wife Basanti Khatua.
Ishwar, 86, and Basanti, 77, live in a dilapidated hut on the embankment of Taladanda canal with their mentally-challenged son. A daily wager, Ishwar is unable to find work at this juncture due to old age. Similarly, Basanti has stopped begging as the winter chill is taking a toll on her health. With both confined to home, the family of three is spending days in starvation and poverty.
Ishwar had migrated to Paradip from Narasinghpur in Cuttack district in search of a job some 25 years back with his family. Being an illiterate, he failed to get a job until a prawn gheri owner employed him to watch over his farm and provided him a patch of land on Taladanda embankment canal.
However, Ishwar has become old and cannot work anymore to eke out a living. He had earlier urged the administration to provide him a piece of land. However, his plea fell on deaf ears.
In 2013, Basanti approached the Odisha HC requesting for a piece of land at Chakradharpur in Kujang tehsil under Odisha Government Land Settlement Rules, 1983.
Acting on her petition, the HC directed Kujang tehsildar to provide land title to Ishwar and Basanti within three months. The administration, however, failed to carry out the HC order for five years.
“I have stopped begging due to old age and wintry conditions. Without any income, we go to bed hungry most of the days. There is not even a single penny for treatment of my ailing husband and son,” said Basanti with her eyes welled up in tears.
When contacted, Kujang Tehsildar Ramesh Chandra Panda said the administration is aware of the plight of Ishwar’s family.
“I have directed Kujang BDO to provide free food including a ration card to them. Steps are also being taken to provide land to the family,” he added.
PNN
