The Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) on Thursday directed the Puri District Collector to conduct an inquiry into the starving condition of one Dilip Sahu and his family members in Delanga block and submit a report within four weeks. The case is posted for next hearing on January 24.
The direction came following a complaint petition filed by NGO Right to Food Campaign State convenor Pradip Pradhan with the NHRC on August 30 last year which was transferred to the OHRC under Section 13 (6) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. The complainant alleged that Dillip, a landless poor man of Bilaspur village under Purusottampur gram panchayat in Delang block of Puri district, stays with his wife Anjali Sahu and two girl children.
However, his name has not been enrolled in the State BPl list. He does not get any benefit under any food security schemes and languishes in abject poverty, the petitioner had alleged. The complainant further narrated that finding no constant employment under employment programme, Dillip worked in a hotel at an earning of Rs 30 to Rs 35 per day by washing plates. The small amount made it difficult for him to manage a four-member family.
As a result, Dillip could not provide sufficient food to his family members. Due to chronic hunger, his two children are suffering from malnutrition and various other diseases rendering them blind and deaf, the complainant had mentioned in his petition. Even as their condition is precarious, the administration has not taken any steps to provide them livelihood for their survival, amounting to gross violation of fundamental rights, the rights activist had stated.