Pradeep Pattanayak

The plight of a visually-impaired elderly woman at Mardarajpur village in Balasore brought a lump to Odisha Governor Raghubar Das’ throat on Friday. 

The Governor was on a visit to the Nilagiri area in Balasore district on Friday. He went around Mardarajpur village to get an idea about the villagers’ problems. As he was going around, he came across Annapurna Patra. 

A visually-impaired Annapurna along with her daughter and son-in-law is living miserably in a dilapidated hut with a polythene sheet spread over its thatched roof. 

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Her wretched living condition made the Governor emotional. Seeing an eligible beneficiary like Annapurna being deprived of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana benefits, he pulled up the district Collector and the local block development officer (BDO) and asked them to address Annapurna’s problem as soon as possible. 

The Governor posted about his chance meeting with Annapurna on his personal X handle. 

His post read, “During my visit to the homes of PMAY beneficiaries in Mardarajpur, Balasore, I became emotional after seeing a blind elderly mother living in a critical condition. She lives here with her daughter and son-in-law. It was painful to know that despite being in dire need of a house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, she has not yet received the benefit. I immediately gave instructions to the district administration officials in this regard and asked them to give priority in allotment of houses under PMAY to the most needy.”

  • Reported by:
  • Biswambar Das
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