Keonjhar: Days after Jitu Munda carried his elder sister’s skeleton on his shoulders to a bank to withdraw money on her behalf, sparking national outrage, the incident has quietly transformed the fortunes of his remote village.
As aid poured in for Munda, administrators and political leaders who had long ignored the village of Dianali in Patana block’s Erendei panchayat began making regular visits to the area.
Munda has since received financial assistance, an electricity connection, a fan, a cot and bedding.
But the changes have extended beyond his household. Dianali, home to roughly 150 families, had long struggled with a severe shortage of drinking water.
Women were forced to spend their mornings collecting water from distant sources.
Several hand pumps in the village had fallen into disrepair, leaving residents without reliable access.
Following widespread media coverage of the case, the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation department repaired the broken hand pumps Sunday morning, a work that residents say they had repeatedly requested for to no avail.
“We complained many times before, but no one came to fix them,” said Suryamani Mahant, a village resident. Fellow resident Nalita Mahant echoed the sentiment.
Tribal leader and engineer Binod Nayak criticised the department’s inaction, saying that officials stationed in the same post for years had grown complacent and dismissive of public grievances.
While the administration claimed all non-functional hand pumps had been repaired ahead of the summer season, residents say the reality only became visible after the Munda story drew national attention.