Loisingha: Even though the government is pumping in crores into rural areas, bonafide beneficiaries are still not getting their benefits, thanks to corrupt officials and politicians.
An example is Jadamunda village of Bolangir district which is facing a lot of problems due to government apathy. The condition of the handicapped, widows and elderly here is heart rending.
The government is planning to increase the pension for the handicapped to Rs 500 from Rs 300, but the crippled individuals of this village are yet to get their pensions.
Among them are Mukta Patel, Bhumisuta Putel, widow Bhagbati, Satya Munda, Lata Munda, Padma Putel, Tekaru Putel, Jeet Tandi and Srikar Tandi. They urged the administration to take note of their plight and grant them their pensions.
Surrounded by dense forests Jadamunda is totally cut off from the world. With no proper road, the village lacks basic infrastructure. The village with 50 families has no piped water, electricity, healthcare facilities and well built houses.
Being mostly tribals, forest produce, areca nut and paddy are the main source of income for the villagers. They have to walk miles through dense forests to reach the block office to get healthcare and other basic things.
Rs 5 lakh was allotted for the construction of a concrete road to the village from Zilla Parishad funds in 2014-15 fiscal. Similarly, Rs 4 lakh was allotted through Gopabandhu Gramin Yojana during 2016-17. However, the road remains half constructed after the funds were bungled by authorities, locals said.
Similarly, there is no source of communication for receiving news as the village has no telephone. The villagers are unaware of the outside world. Lacking knowledge about their rights they have failed to present their grievances to the authorities.
A broken tubewell is their only source of water. Although there is an anganwadi it hardly functions. PNN
