Badasahi: The state government has been implementing rural housing schemes for the poor and the disadvantaged, but many do not get the benefits of these schemes in Badasahi area of Mayurbhanj district.
Here is an example. A poor tribal couple – Makara Dehury and his wife Hira Dehury – has been struggling under a polythene sheet supported by a few poles at Paunsia village under this block.
Braving chill, heat and rain, the couple has been pulling on for years amid reports that housing units are being grabbed by bogus beneficiaries.
The administration and people’s representatives have not taken note of their sorry state. Though they have taken up their plight with the administration several times in the past, no action has been taken to provide them a house, it was learnt.
Their house is in complete ruins. After marrying off their children, the couple has been broke. “Our house has been completely dilapidated. As we found no alternative, we raised a shanty covered with a polythene sheet with the help of out neighbours and somehow manage our life, no matter if it is a rainy or a sunny day,” bemoaned the couple.
All that the couple gets from the government is 10 kg of rice every month. Locals demanded that the administration immediately provide them a house. PNN