Balangir, June 1: While an oldage pension has been a means to live for many elderly persons & rural destitutes in Odisha for securing at least two square meals a day, collecting the monthly assistance from the authorities is becoming a more intricating job for them.
Though such incidents almost become headlines in every month end during dispensation of oldage pensions, a pity scene from the Patnagarh Block in Odisha’s Balangir district has burst tears from the onlookers.
The disheartening story was of Surekha Naik, an octogenarian woman from Pandesara village under the Phatamunda GP, reportedly with a ganglion leg, who dragged herself on road on Saturday upto 2 km for her oldage pension and took a pity ride on a tractor-trolley to come back home.
Finding Surekha crawling a few meters away from the scheduled assistance distribution point, wrapping up her deformed leg with a piece of torn cloth despite the scorching sun, locals took pity on her and managed her comeback on a tractor-trolley.
While, the newly commissioned Odisha government is showing utmost solidarity to the elderly persons prioritizing to address their concerns, Surekha’s plight is a bare example of sheer irresponsibility of the PR authorities.
