| Tribal women victim of official apathy | |||
|
|||
| The
International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), Integrated
Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) and World Bank have together
contributed Rs 67 crore to this block over the past ten years. |
|||
| However, it has been of no use to the residents, thanks to negligent attitude of the Government towards the region. |
|||
| The
official apathy is evident from the manner in which the tribal women of
the region have been treated by the authorities. One such case dates
back to December 2003 when members of the Singhasandevi Mahila Mandal
of Siriguda village, after a Palli Sabha resolution, approached the
then MLA Bibhisan Majhi asking him to give them a culvert construction
contract in their village. Although the MLA assured them of giving the
job, a petty contractor, named Ram Chandra Jhodia, usurped the work by
influencing the MLA. The women protested before the MLA, who had
promised them the deal. |
|||
| The
brave women then approached the BDO, Kashipur, but in vain. They also
staged a march to the office of District Development Officer, Rayagada,
which is 100km from their village. The DDO directed them to meet the
new MLA, Anantaram Majhi. |
|||
| They
met the local BDO who said no such order had come from the seniors.
Then again they marched to the office of the DDO, Rayagada, who finally
telephoned the BDO. They came back and got the work order for the
culvert. It was an MLA LAD fund to the tune of Rs1.40 lakh for which
they had to run from pillar to post for at least six months. |
|||
| Their
agony did not end here. Although the women completed the first phase of
the work order worth Rs 80,000, they received just Rs 54,000. The
Junior Engineer engulfed Rs 7,000 and the rest was distributed among
other babus. As the village has 62 families, each family received Rs
720 as wage after a long wait. |
|||
| Though two years have passed, the Mahila Mandal members are yet to get the final payment. The women feel humiliated and frustrated. When the State Government is beating its drums about women empowerment and development, women in this tribal district still depend on their own providence. | |||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power.
It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality."
- Dr BR Ambedkar
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
