Bhuban: In a bid to save the poor and differently-abled from hunger during the COVID-19 lockdown, the Odisha government has launched various schemes.
To avail the state government’s benefits the beneficiaries must have their Aadhar cards. But no such facilities are available for a differently-abled woman named Pratima Pothal because she doesn’t have one.
Pratima, a 40-year-old woman, is a resident of Chinnara Hamlet under Bhuban NAC in Dhenkanal District. She is blind from birth.
Fingerprint and iris scans are mandatory for Aadhaar verification, but Pratima wasn’t able to provide retina scans since she is blind.
She stays with her mother who is also a widow. It is very difficult for both of them to manage their livelihood with only the widow’s pension which Pratima’s mother gets every month.
With prices of essentials sky-rocketing amid the lockdown, financial stress is taking a toll on the mother and daughter duo.
To avail her Aadhar card she has been visiting both Janaseva Kendra and Block Office several times but in vain.
Meanwhile District Collector Bhumesh Chandra Behera in his public grievance cell had assured Pratima to solve her problem. But this hope of Pratima also vanished like a drop of water in an ocean, as no such facilities availed have yet been allocated to her.
When asked NAC Executive Officer Pramod Kumar Baral said, “We will make sure that Pratima gets her Aadhar card soon.”
PNN