An elderly poor woman from Baleswar district has approached the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in New Delhi seeking justice to her.
After not getting any assistance and assurance from the district administration on a land litigation issue, the woman along with her Divyang son decided to move to Delhi to meet the Prime Minister. She returned home on Thursday after a 20-day stay in Delhi.
Kamala Nayak (65) of Khandayat Sahi of Kupari panchayat under Khaira block had approached the district administration alleging illegal occupation of her land by a neighbour after her husband’s death. As the local administration failed to resolve the issue, she finally wrote to the Prime Minister about it. Despite a directive from the PMO, the district administration did not take any action against the illegal occupant and return her land, the only asset which was bought by her husband and mother-in-law at Hatimanda Gengutia.
The PMO had in January directed the State Chief Secretary to resolve the dispute. The local tehsildar had also conducted the land measurement process, but the issue still remained unresolved.
Finally, Kamala along with her son Biswambhar (28) went to Delhi in July to meet the PM. She met PMO Joint Secretary Haripada Das and a number of political leaders including Jual Oram, Dharmendra Pradhan, Baleswar MP Rabindra Jena and Bhadrak MP Arjun Sethy. After getting assurance from them, she returned home.
She said all the financial assistance along with the train ticket charge was provided by the PMO to reach Delhi.
Before She reached the Baleswar railway station, Khaira Tehsildar Ramesh Kumar Jena and other officials were waiting for her. She was taken to the Soro court where she filed a land grab case against her neighbour. The district administration would provide all legal assistance to her in the case, said Collector Pramod Kumar Das.