Three women suddenly fell ill with one admitted at the District Headquarters Hospital in a serious condition during the inauguration of Kartika Habisha Shelter in Puri by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik through video conferencing on Thursday.
The cause of the illness of the aged women is said to be suffocation due to space crunch in the shelter homes, besides delay in supply of Mahaprasad to them. Though the names and latest conditions of sick women were yet not ascertained, however, sources said they lost consciousness during the inauguration.
By 6.30 pm, all the women waited for Mahaprasad who were hungry from the morning. While many women managed their breakfast on their own, some waited to have Mahaprasad which was too much delayed to reach at the holiday home.
At 5.30 pm, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik thorough videoconferencing, congratulated the fasting women saying good wishes to all of them. Revenue Minister Maheswar Mohanty, Agriculture Minister Pradip Maharathy, Puri Collector Jyoti Prakash Das and Sub-Collector Sumant Kar, besides other higher officials were present.
The CM talked with some women and inquired about their wellbeing. The women chanted Hari Bola and Huahulli looking at the CM in the television screen.
The railway holiday home Habisha shelter was overcrowded due to shortage of space with more than 1,000 women resting for a month-long fasting. All the women were found lying on the floor of the holiday home like cattle with most complaining of lack of amenities like drinking water, urinal and healthcare, etc.
One octogenarian woman from Bhadrak was robbed of her belongings like sari, medicine, utensil, spectacles and Aadhaar card while entering the shelter home. Even many women complained that nobody from the administration had come to ask them about their condition.