Athmallik: While the world is busy celebrating International Women’s Day, and several organisations are felicitating women who have achieved success in their life, there are many who dazzled at one point in their lives but are now largely forgotten. Dushila Naik from Bahali Tikira village under Aida panchayat of Angul district is one such woman.
At one point in her life, she was a sarpanch. A cruel turn of fate, however, has forced her to work as a housemaid.
Dushila was elected as sarpanch of Aida panchayat in 1997. After winning the election, she made it a point to help as many people as she could during her five-year tenure. She included many villagers under various schemes and implemented several developmental projects in her panchayat without caring about her own future.
According to her neighbours, even after her term as sarpanch got over, Dushila along with her husband Narendra used to live a happy life. In 2012, misfortune visited her in the form of her husband’s death. “Now to make ends meet, she washes dishes at other’s houses in Bhubaneswar,” one of her neighbours said.
Dushila, who recently visited her village, said, “During those days less numbers of houses under Indira Awas Yojana were being allotted to panchayats. During my period, I made it a point to help people in every possible way. I had distributed all the houses among the poor villagers. But I never tried to get one for me.”
She also alleged that despite several surveys being conducted every now and then, there are many poor widows living in Bahali Tikira village who are yet to get a pucca house – herself included.
When contacted, Athmallik block development officer Sanjay Kumar Acharya said the government will provide pucca houses to all who have kutcha ones. “A survey has already been conducted to identify the deserving beneficiaries. If Dushila’s name is featured in the list, she will definitely get a pucca house,” he added.
PNN