Odisha Old Woman Video: A case has come to light in Odisha’s Keonjhar district where a 70-year-old woman crawled on her knees for about two kilometres from her house to the panchayat office to get old age pension. Keonjhar is the home district of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi. The ailing elderly woman has been identified as Pathuri Dehuri, a resident of Raisuan Gram Panchayat and cannot walk.
A video of Dehuri walking on his knees on the village road has gone viral on social media, after which social media users targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party on this issue. A user named Sab Changa C wrote, ‘The good things about the BJP government in the state. Everyone will have to crawl and beg.’ A user named CJ wrote, ‘The biggest change after the BJP government came to power in Odisha, now such news is making headlines. No one used to get troubled before.’
What did the Sarpanch say?
Raisuan Gram Panchayat’s Sarpanch Bagun Champiya said that he drew the attention of the administration after seeing the news of the old woman crawling on the road on her knees on television and her pictures in newspapers. The Sarpanch said, “I have also found out from the villagers that the woman is unable to walk properly due to her age-related illness.”
The state government had given these instructions
The state government had earlier issued directions to officials to deliver pensions of elderly and disabled beneficiaries to their homes. However, Dehuri said a panchayat official had asked her to go to the office to collect the monthly pension and on Saturday she had to crawl on her knees to reach there. According to villagers, the woman is 70 years old and had no other option to reach there. The concerned gram panchayat falls under Telkoi block of Keonjhar, the home district of Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.
Telkoi Block Development Officer (BDO) Geeta Murmu told PTI that the old age pension was earlier sent to Dehuri’s bank account. However, when Dehuri fell ill and expressed her inability to go to the bank, the local administration started paying her pension at her home. According to the BDO, now the panchayat officer has been asked to visit Dehuri’s house every month and pay her old age pension. She has also been provided a wheelchair, he said. Raisuan’s sarpanch said that the civil supply assistant will provide ration to Dehuri at her home. The Odisha government provides pension to 42 lakh elderly people under schemes like Madhu Babu Pension Yojana and Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme.
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