Post News Network
Boinda, Jan 8: Even after several years since the country achieved independence, a Dalit hamlet in Handapa
panchayat under Kishorenagar block of Angul district presents a picture of constant neglect and administrative apathy.
Several government-sponsored poverty alleviation schemes have failed to come to the aid of the residents due to administrative apathy. The village, comprising 70 villagers of 15 families of Dalit
community, are all beneficiaries under below poverty line (BPL) schemes, but are yet to reap the benefits of any such scheme available to them.
They do not have any agricultural land and have to eke out their living by working as casual labourers. They have to live in shanties and their attempt to get a house built under the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) have met with little
success. Commuting on the road connecting their hamlet to the panchayat is a risky proposition as it is filled with
potholes and pebbles.
During the rainy season, it is nearly
impossible to move on the road as it gets covered with mud and slush. Though they have repeatedly approached the block authorities for a cement-concrete road, nothing has been done.
As far as the drinking water problem is concerned, they have to walk 300
metres daily to collect water from
another tubewell as the only tubewell in the village spews iron-mixed water and is unfit for human consumption.
Their plight worsens most during the summer season when they have to walk miles to collect drinking water.