Bhubaneswar: Hours after some ‘habishyali’ women fell ill at the Brindabati Niwas in Puri and were admitted to a hospital there, Chief Minister Mohan Majhi asked Srimandir administration and Puri district magistrate to take necessary measures for women pilgrims.
Majhi, who is on a tour to Mumbai, said, “After knowing about the plight of women pilgrims, I have instructed officers, the administration of the Srimandir and the district magistrate to take all kinds of measures. The government is committed to providing all kinds of facilities to the ‘habishyali’ mothers who come from outside the district and observe Havishyabrat at Sri Jagannath Dham in Puri. Let Lord Jagannath fulfil all your wishes. Jai Jagannath.”
Odisha’s Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida and Literature and Culture Minister Suryabanshi Suraj attended the inauguration of ‘Habishyali Kartik Brata’ at Brundabati residence in Puri Friday evening.
“Habishyali mothers are the messengers of our culture and tradition. Due to their dedication to the Lord, every Odia is blessed and this will make our Odisha prosperous,” Parida said, assuring the women that the government will provide all possible facilities to them.
The BJD, earlier in the day, slammed the Odisha government over alleged hardships faced by elderly women who came to Puri’s Shree Jagannath Temple to observe ‘Kartik Brata’, alleging that the BJP dispensation “failed” to make adequate arrangements for them.
BJD spokesperson Lekhashree Samannsinghar claimed that the elderly pilgrims had to spend nights on the streets in the coastal town due to a “lack of lodging facilities”.
“Many women suffered as they were denied accommodation and other facilities. They spent the nights on the streets. This government has hurt the religious sentiments of people,” she alleged.
State minister and BJP leader Prithiviraj Harichandan denied the charge and claimed that the administration had made elaborate arrangements for those who were coming to the coastal town to observe ‘Kartik Brata’.
A large number of women, mostly above 70 years of age, used to visit Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri and observe ‘Kartik Brata’. They are called ‘habishyali’.
“Previously, our government used to make elaborate arrangements of lodging and food for ‘habishyalis’. We had also made arrangements for transportation for them from the places of stay to the temple. Last year, around 3200 ‘habishyalis’ were provided with all facilities by the previous BJD government for observing the ‘Kartik Brata’.
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“With the change of government, the elderly women suffered a lot. This was due to lack of arrangements,” Samantsinghar said.
The BJD spokesperson also alleged that the “failure” to provide adequate facilities to ‘habishyalis’ by the BJP government has “hurt Odia Asmita (pride)”.
“The BJP government has been exposed. The saffron party pledged to uphold ‘Odia Asmita’ and protect the state’s culture, tradition and heritage. ‘Habishyalis’ faced hardships in the holy month of Kartik due to the BJP government’s failure. The state government has hurt the faith of ‘habishyalis’,” she alleged.
Samantsinghar said that the previous BJD government had made arrangements at Brindabati Niwas, a seven-storey building, to accommodate the visiting ‘habishyalis’ in Puri.
Earlier, arrangements were also made at other places in Puri for these pilgrims.
“This year, only 2,500 women are provided with the facilities while a large number of ‘habishyalis’ were denied accommodation. In a welfare state, it is the responsibility of the government to provide basic facilities to the people observing the month-long ‘Kartik Brata’,” she said.
Puri District Collector Siddharth S Swain said the administration has started making efforts to address the issues like providing accommodation to the pilgrims who have not registered themselves so far.
PTI