Jajpur: An epitome of motherly love, octogenarian Janu Khatua – at an age when she needs support herself — has been supporting her 52 year old visually impaired son Amar.
The feeble lady from Tarei Sahi village under Dasarathpur block of Jajpur district can be seen guiding Amar in Jajpur town from shops to shops, houses to houses seeking alms to run her six-member family nearly every day.
Janu says Amar was not blind by birth. He used to earn his living by selling fish and lead a happy life. In 2005, misfortune visited her family when Amar complained of losing vision in both his eyes. Despite all possible treatment, he lost his vision completely over a period of time.
“As if the bread winner of my family going visually impaired was not enough, my husband died in 2010. We were left with no choice but to seek alms from others to keep the pot boiling,” says a teary eyed Janu.
Amar gets Rs 500 towards disability pension and Janu another Rs 500 towards old age pension. They also get subsidised PDS rice. However, that is not enough to meet even the basic needs of the family that consists of Janu, Amar, his wife, two daughters and a 10-year-old son.
“The pension we are getting is not enough to see our family through. We have no choice but to seek alms from others. At day end, we manage to make anything between Rs100 and 150 to feed the family,” Amar says while adding that sometimes they cannot come to Jajpur owing to inclement weather conditions.
That said, Jani is thankful to the government for providing them a house. “The government sanctioned us a house under Indira Awas Yojana this year after doing several rounds of the block office,” she says.
The family is presently concerned about getting the daughters married. “I have been coming to the collector’s office to request him to arrange me some financial help for the marriage of my elder granddaughter. However, I have not been able to meet him as yet. A little bit of administrative help would relieve much of a burden from my shoulders,” she concludes.
PNN