There is no one to listen to me because I am a poor and low caste man. I have been jailed for seven times in last six years only because I am fighting against a powerful man who has illegally grabbed my only piece of cultivable land," said Hrudanand Tandi of Tukla village under Khariar Police Station in Nuapada district.
"I have been jailed this time again on a fabricated case by a man who is acting in favour of Ghanashyam Meher of Tukla, who has illegally grabbed my land," added Hrudanand.land, which was once a major source of income for Hrudanand, has become the main cause of his suffering and struggle. Hrudanand is a glass bangle vendor, who moves from village to village to sell bangles and earn his livelihood. The small piece of agricultural land of an acre in Risgaon village was another source to add to his income. In 2006, Ghanashyam Meher illegally acquired that land.
Chandrika, an SC woman of Nuapada district, was tested HIV positive in December last year. When she complained of prolonged sickness, she was advised by NGO SAI to have her blood check-up in the Integrated Counseling and Treatment Centre (ICTC) at Khariar. She had returned from a brick kiln at Secunderabad at that time. She was advised by the ICTC to go for a test called CD4 to get further treatment, which is done at Balangir, but due to poverty, she could not go there.
Chandrika, with her husband Juge and two sons live in a small village of Nuapada district. The family is landless. Juge is mentally retarded and cannot work regularly. The younger child Rajkumar is suffering from hernia disease.
Due to poverty, the family regularly migrates to Andhra Pradesh to work in brick kilns. She was offered an advance of Rs 45,000 by a labour contractor last September to work in a brick kiln in Secunderabad. The advance was for three persons - Chandrika, Juge and elder son Sekhar aged 15. Chandrika received the money and went with the family to work in the kiln although her health condition was not good. She wanted to return to her village in December, when her health condition deteriorated. However, she was not allowed by the contractor to leave the work place. When her health got worse, she phoned her brother to send Rs 15,000 to the owner. She was allowed to leave the work place with younger son Rajkumar after the money was deposited in the bank account of the owner.
Health conditions of Juge - Chandrika's husband was also not good. So, she wanted to rescue Juge and Sekhar immediately. She sold her cow and a calf, mortgaged her BPl card and arranged Rs 15,000 and deposited the money in the bank account of the kiln owner and requested the owner to leave the two. But the owner released only Juge but detained Sekhar and asked Chandrika to send more money to release him. later, with the help of SAI, she rescued her son.
"When Chandrika was tested HIV positive, we advised blood check-up of all the members of the family and as we guessed, Juge and the younger child Rajkumar also tested positive. They should immediately go for CD4 test," said Jitendra Pattnaik of SAI. "We have filed an application in the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) of Nuapada district for financial support to the family for further testing and treatment, but the CWC has not taken any step," added Pattnaik.
The CWC is empowered to advice the concerned departments to provide support to such families in distress. It should have taken immediate step as the case of Chandrika is very serious. Chandrika and Juge are not in a position to work regularly due to illness. They are living with support from the community and relatives. "We are also starving sometimes," said Chandrika. "Can anyone release my BPl card," she asked.