Elderly couple living in toilet lays bare govt's failed promises

Keonjhar: An elderly couple of Harshapur village under Raisaina panchayat in Keonjhar has failed to get a house under government schemes for the past five years and is living in a 4ft x 3 ft toilet.

Naku Naik aged 70 and wife Sumati Naik have been spending their lives in a toilet built under the Centre's Swachh Bharat Mission. Though they have been running from pillar to post to get a house under Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) or Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana, the couple is yet to get any support.

Sumati Naik said, "I have knocked the doors of the local Tehsildar several times, but I have only got assurances and nothing else."

Sebati Naik, daughter-in-law of Sumati, said, "Though we had applied for a house under the government scheme, no one paid any heed to our request."

The elderly couple's son and daughter-in-law along with their children are staying in a dilapidated single-room thatched house.

When asked, local officials said names of the couple are not registered in the list of beneficiaries available with them.

Meanwhile, Keonjhar BDO Adikanda Behera said the local administration would look into the couple's application and take necessary steps.

"If the couple's names are not listed in the Socially and Economically Backward Class (SEBC) list, the administration will include their names and allot a house under the Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana," said Behera.

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