Jeypore: It was a matter of pride for Koraput district when Kamala Pujari, a woman farmer who came into prominence for her preservation of more than a hundred traditional paddy varieties, was nominated by the Chief Minister as a planning board member in March.
However, the state government seems to have forgotten this woman of Patraput in Dangarichhinchi panchayat as she is yet to receive any communication in this regard.
She doesn’t know what is planning board, its function and what she has to do as a member, said Kamala, adding, she only heard about it from media persons.
However, she got a letter from the Governor’s House a few days before the Independence Day to take part in a programme. But Kamala did not attend it as she couldn’t afford the expenses of travelling to the state capital and return, it was learnt.
Planning board, with the Chief Minister as its chairman, functions as a policy making body for long term plans and guides the government on these issues. Apart from five government members, the Chief Minister nominates 10 others from various fields having significant contributions to the society. Among them two should be from the field of education/economy/science, five social workers, two MLAs and one from industrial sector. Other names included – MLA Bed Prakash Agrawal, MLA Raseswari Panigrahi, Dr Sharat Mishra, former MLA Rabi Malik, Girish Chandra Das of Balasore, Sudhir Das of Rayagada and Iswar Panigrahi of Koraput.
However, it is alleged that Kamala is neither given any respect nor the facilities meant for the planning board members despite her contribution in the field of social work.
She was felicitated at Johannesburg in 2002 for preserving rare paddy varieties and the Centre conferred ‘Krushi Bisharad’ samman on her in 2003. The state government also named a girls’ hostel of OUAT after Kamala Pujari recently.
The nomination as a planning board member makes mockery of Kamala’s poverty, said some locals.
Though the administration offered her a housing unit under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, it is yet to be given electricity connection and doesn’t have a window.
While the state feels proud of Kamal’s unique effort, she is struggling to meet both ends, another villager said.
She would be grateful to the government if an allowance of a few thousand rupees is arranged for rest of her life, said Kamala with choked voice.
PNN