Nuapada: Yudhishthira Patel, a 50-year-old poor landless man from Tanwat panchayat under Sadar block of Nuapada district, is worried considering his inability to take care of his centenarian grandmother and septuagenarian father.
Quite like many other blue-collar workers across the country, Yudhishthira’s family has also been battered by the ongoing lockdown imposed to contain COVID-19 outbreak.
A daily wager, Yudhishthira’s family comprises of his grandmother Bishahina, 75 years old father Reshamlal, wife Punei (45) and two sons-Tulesh (15) and Hutesh (13).
“I have been at home since the first day of lockdown. Money, rice, flattened rice all that we had has already been exhausted. The lockdown has snatched away my income and I am now unable to arrange food even for one time for my family. As if this was not enough, my neighbours have too refused to help us in these trying times,” Yudhishthira says with tears welling up in his eyes.
Yudhishthira said he has now left everything to the mercy of God. He neither has any arable land nor homestead one to his name. He and his family live in a hut constructed on a patch of government land.
“I am concerned about my bedridden grandmother and my elderly father. The fear of contracting coronavirus and then affecting my grandmother and father has stopped me from going out in search of work. As a result, we all are going hungry. It has been days since my grandmother had last taken cooked food. My father is also not getting any benefits from the government, not even the old age pension despite running from pillar to post,” he added in a choked voice.
When contacted, panchayat executive officer Jayprakash Majhi said he was not aware of the plight of Yudhishthira’s family. “All government help would immediately be provided to Yudhishthira’s family,” he added.
PNN