Jajpur: There are allegations of severe irregularities in the construction of a community centre for weavers by the side of NH-16 in this district instead of Gopalpur village in Rasulpur block which has around 900 families of weavers, a report said Wednesday.
The decision has disappointed the community and has sparked resentment among them.
The villagers are struggling to earn their livelihood with no support coming from the government and other agencies and the construction of the community centre by the side of NH-16 came as a rude shock to them.
They were demanding to open a branch of government owned Boyanika for marketing their products, but the construction of the community centre by the side of NH has dashed their hopes.
Reports said the community centre is being constructed with an outlay of Rs 5 lakh by NH side which is around 5 km from the village.
The families of weavers alleged severe irregularities in the construction and claimed that some vested interests were trying to usurp the lion’s share of sanctioned funds by constructing the community centre at the present spot.
They questioned the wisdom behind constructing the community centre by the side of NH when sufficient government land is available in the village.
Sources said the village under Prathamakhandi panchayat of Rasulpur block is well known in the country as sprinter Dutee Chand hails from it. However, nothing has changed for the villagers who live a life of neglect due to lack of patronage.
This apart, development has eluded the village as it is yet to get the status of a revenue village. Moreover, lack of patronage and absence of modern weaving machines has forced the children in the village to help their parents after they return from school.
Weavers Subhash Das, Narayan Das claimed that it takes at least three days for three persons to weave a saree from which they earn a maximum profit of Rs 500.
This turns out to Rs 100 wage per weaver which is quite meagre in comparison to today’s market rate. Moreover, due to lack of marketing facilities they have to travel to Bhubaneswar and other places to sell their products incurring a lot of expenses.
Rasulpur BDO Ashok Kumar Behura ruled out irregularities in the construction of the community centre stating that the site by the side of the National Highway was selected for easy access.
