Jorhat: Aged Widow Living in Broken Hut Seeks Government Aid to End Suffering

Jorhat, April 9, 2020:

It is no secret that the Government's policies for the poor, highlighted in glowing letters in adverts, are yet to benefit a large chunk of the Indian population. That this is indeed a stark reality has been exposed time and again during the Centre-imposed 21-day lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The latest instance of poverty-hit people struggling for survival has reached us from Jorhat, Assam.

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In West Jorhat's Namoni Timtimiya, there resides an old widow named Niroda Gogoi who has now become the latest victim amid the hardships of the lockdown. Her suffering came to light when a Government official, Uttam Kumar Saikia and wife Purnima Saikia, who had gone to provide relief materials, saw that they are living in a small thatched hut that seems poised to fall down at any moment. After seeing their plight, Saikia has appealed the Government to help her.

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It came to light that the Jorhat widow lives with the mentally unsound daughter of her husband's first wife, and neighbours have reported that she lives in constant mental anguish due to her condition. The duo somehow lives in the same home that could perhaps be blown away by a gust of strong wind, and the Jorhat administration is yet to hear their cries for help..

Although the woman's name has come up in the housing scheme lists several times, somewhat mysteriously, she is yet to receive a proper accommodation as per the schemes.

At the same time, it has also been reported that families living in the interior regions are yet to receive the supply of essential goods in the midst of the lockdown.

Saraswati Choudhury, a resident of Biswanath recently went viral on Facebook after posting a plea of help for the Government.

Addressing the people of the state at large, she explained the deplorable condition of her family, while underlining that the people who do not live near the ‘main road’ are being deprived from the Government’s relief measures. “From last night, we do not have even rice and we can not even go out”, she rues.

ALSO READ: Assam Citizens Staring at Starvation due to Shortage of Food Supply?

She further complains that they are having to survive on a diet of kosu (a variety of root found in Assam). The girl says that since they live in a remote village, the Government has not been able to reach them through its initiatives to aid the poor and needy, part of its vaunted “1.7 lakh crore package.”

“Cannot even go out. I need rice at least. Even our younger daughter is in the same state. We are all poor. Near the main road, all have been given relief, but we have been deprived”, Saraswati’s middle-aged mother says in the video, with tears pouring from her eyes in despair.

Now, we have been informed that the family has been helped by many in the area, including the local authorities, and themselves are helping localites deal with the lockdown.

Thus, from these two instances, one thing becomes clear. The Government policies must touch all the poor and underprivileged sections of society, irrespective of their address.

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