Chandikhole: A Dalit family of Gulzarnagar Patna village under Barchana block in Jajpur district has been made to face the wrath of the local administration officials after it sought the intervention of the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in alleged irregularities in the block through a letter.
The family of Balram Mallick complained of mental torture by block and panchayat officials after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik replied to the letter and sought a probe and action against those found guilty.
Accusing Balram of writing to the Chief Minister against them, the officials are said to have made his life hell.
According to reports, Balram is a labourer. He has been deprived of all basic government facilities, despite his best efforts to attract the attention of the officials concerned and running from pillar to post.
Fed up with the apathy of the administration, he had written a letter to the CM, seeking the latter’s intervention. Balram accused the officials of truancy and irregularities in the letter.
Replying to the letter, the CM directed the district administration to probe the allegations made by Balram and take action against those found guilty.
Instead of investigating the matter, the officials have started harassing Balram and his family, it was learnt. The officials have stopped giving the monthly 5kg ration to his widowed mother. Similarly, the officials concerned have stopped Awas Yojana bill; instead, they have demanded money to pass the bills. Even after the death of his father, Balram was not given a penny from the Harischandra Yojana.
In a second letter to the CM, Balram has accused all the block officials starting from the BDO to the lower rung officials of torturing him for writing against them. He claimed that he wanted to commit suicide along with his family members as they were unable to endure the torture anymore.
When contacted, Barchana BDO Ajit Narayan Giri tried to evade an answer claiming that the matter would be looked into.
PNN