The State Government has launched several schemes for the poor, but lack of implementation continues at the ground level.
In the latest glaring example of this, the body of an old woman in the district was transported in a trolley rickshaw, besides the family had to wait for hours for cremation as they did not have money for the purpose.
Ironically, the State Government has floated the Harishchandra Scheme to fund cremation of dead bodies for poor people.
Sources said the old woman of Kantala village in Chakroda panchayat of Kendrapada district lived with her daughter’s family as she had no son. She was brought to her own village for her last rites. But neither neighbours nor relatives came to support them to carry her body. So, her daughter and nephew carried it in a trolley and took it to the crematorium.
There too, the family alleged that they had to wait for hours and still did not get any support under the Harishchandra Scheme. “When we called the sarpanch for assistance under the scheme, he said there is no money in the account,” said the nephew of the deceased.
In fact, reports of dead bodies being carried in trolley rickshaws or on human shoulders have been pouring in from different parts of the State as hearses are not available in hospitals. Besides, the poor families are deprived of the financial assistance for cremation of their relatives’ bodies as no fund is available in the panchayats’ Harishchandra accounts.