nTaking a new born girl on her lap, a Dalit poverty stricken woman staged a dharna with her husband and her minor son in front of the Collectorate demanding a patch of homestead land, a PMAY house, besides financial assistance from district Red Cross for a living.
She was evicted from her house by the district administration during the lockdown period and was not resettled later as promised.
According to Dhruba Charan Behera, husband of Sasmita Behera of Oldhi village under Derabish tehsil, he was driven out from his village by his family members and the fellow villagers seven years back as he married to a minority community girl Sanwari Begum alias Sasmita Behera, after falling love with her.
Later, he with his wife started living by constructing a temporary thatched house at a Government land in Chatara chakoda mouza on Chatta-Derabish road side and eked out their living by opening a betel shop on the Government land.
But to his irony, the local tehsil administration evicted his family from the thatched house on June 29, 2019 during that time when the State Government was helping the poor by providing financial assistance and subsidised food grains under various schemes.
Later, he and his wife knocked the doors of the district Collector. The then district Collector Samarth Verma, assured him to provide compensation, a land patta and also to enlist him in housing scheme.
But though more than seven months have passed, nothing was done.
When contacted, Kendrapada ADM Basant Kumar Rout stated that the district administration assured the family of necessary action after an inquiry.