Rourkela: Myriad welfare schemes launched by the government have no meaning for residents of the leprosy colony at Nayabazaar in Sector-21.
Even basic amenities like drinking water, community toilet and sanitation elude them for years, alleged a delegation of residents that met the additional district magistrate (ADM) at his office Saturday.
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They urged ADM K Sudarshan Chakraborty to look into their matter and take steps to ensure that they receive the benefits of various welfare schemes.
Even as they run from pillar to posts for years, the authorities turn deaf ears to their problems. They even moved the district administration and met the authorities several times, but to no avail.
Their demands included setting up of toilets at households, renovation of community toilet that has been lying in a dilapidated condition for years, deep bore wells to address drinking water scarcity.
They said the Rourkela civic body takes measures to clean the surroundings and drains in the colony. Their other demands included reduction of electricity tariff and raising their allowances in line with that of other states.
After hearing their pleas, the ADM directed the public health and engineering department (PHED) to take immediate measures to address the drinking water problem. He assured the delegation that the administration will take measures to address their other issues after holding discussions with the departmental authorities.
The delegation included Gopal Meher, Naresh Sethy, Santosh Majhi, Pabitra Biswal and Tanguru Nayak.
Rourkela MLA Dillip Ray and Panposh sub-collector Himashu Sekhar Behera were present at the meeting.
PNN
