Malkangiri: In a heart-wrenching incident that unfolded on a road in Malkangiri town Thursday, a septuagenarian woman was seen eating food that was lying on the road.
The incident exposes how filial duties are being forgotten and how the administration fails in providing a decent living to those who do not receive any support from family members.
The feeble woman was seen crossing the road carrying two polythene bags – one containing ‘puri’ and another curry. As she was crossing the road, the curry polythene bag somehow fell on the road and the curry spilled on the street.
She seemed to feel sorry for dropping the polythene. She sat there, took out the ‘puris’ from the other polythene bag still in her hand and started eating with curry from the road.
Even though some passersby asked her not to eat the food from the road, the woman went on eating as if she had heard nothing.
Some approached her and asked her if she is receiving any pension. By that time, she had finished her food and was still sitting on the road. Instead of giving answers to them, she stood up and slowly crossed the rest of the road.
Meanwhile, local residents expressed their astonishment as to why the district administration was not taking steps to identify the helpless and deserted elderly people and provide shelter to them at the old age home already functional in the district.
PNN
