lakhman Parida (31) and Saudamini Parida (27) are a couple from Daduan village under Joda block of Keonjhar district. When their son Husen Paris (06) and daughter Pankajini (2) took birth at home, they had rejoiced like any other parents but their happiness didn't last long. For, their children do not behave like other normal children.
While the other children of the same age started creeping on the home yard, those unfortunate remained stuck to their mother’s lap. When the parents noticed the abnormality, they immediately took them to different hospitals starting from the ones in Keonjhar to those in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. After the treatment, some changes have taken place in their attitude but they are not completely cured. Now, the couple’s poverty stands on the way for their children’s full treatment.
lakhman is mainly an agricultural worker who has exhausted all his money he had got as compensation for the land gone to the multi- purpose Kanpur irrigation project. In the meantime, the parents have arranged a Physical Handicapped certificate for the son only and thanks to local block administration for sanctioning monthly Rs 330, it is coming as a relief to the family.
However, as the handicapped children are always in need of some body's assistance, the father and mother are attached with them and are not able to go outside to work for their livelihood. The couple now pins hope on Government help or CSR assistance from the nearby companies who are said to be responsible for polluting the environment leading to abnormality among children in the area.
Meanwhile, the locals have demanded that the district / State administrations should come forward for the treatment and rehabilitation of the handicapped of children on humanitarian gesture.