Bhubaneswar: In a blatant case of apathy towards the welfare of the people affected by leprosy and towards those who are declared leprosy cured in the state, the bureaucrats seem to be sitting on government funds sanctioned for them.
Official correspondences as accessed by this reporter revealed that the Khurda district administration, in spite of repeated reminders, have failed to utilize the sanctioned funds for the leprosy cured persons under the ‘Sahaya’ scheme. While the beneficiaries of the scheme continue to look for government assistance as promised under the scheme, the red tapism of the Khurda district administration makes the whole exercise futile.
Under the Sahaya scheme, awareness camps were slated to be held in the district to extend social security assistance to the leprosy cured persons. The objective of such camps was to guide them to receive proper medical treatment, emotional care and counseling, teach them wellness and hygiene, assist them financially by engaging them in various income generation programmes and others.
The provisions of the scheme ensured a rehabilitation kit worth Rs 19,200 intended to be distributed to each eligible family. The Khurda Collector was reminded by the department of Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) department first on February 16 2019, and again on June 11, 2019. The department again wrote to the Collector October 29, 2019 for the third time to act on the unutilised funds for the leprosy cured persons.
The recent letter to the Khurda Collector from the SSEPD department said, “Even after the lapse of more than eight months and issue of a reminder in this regard, it has been ascertained that no camp has been organised in the district and funds intended for the purpose have been lying unutilised.”
Statistics hint at an alarming picture of the rise of more deformities due to leprosy while leprosy healthcare has been struggling due to staff shortage and other issues. The deformity rate among leprosy patients was reported to be 1.83 per cent in 2006-2007 but it started increasing since then and notched up to 11.36 per cent in 2014-15. The situation remains stagnant and alarming.