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Cuttack: It's too strenuous a job for Babaji Samal to pull rickshaw at the age of 70, but acute poverty forces him to ignore his age and come out with his rickshaw every day to earn a living to sustain his three daughters.
Plagued by poverty, Babaji spoke to OTV and narrated his ordeal and revealed how he is moving from pillar to post for a house for his daughters and urged the government to at least help them get a roof over their heads.
As Babaji puts it, he has approached the concerned municipality officials several times, but he allegedly has not received any help. Left with no choice, he and his three daughters are living in a dilapidated house.
"The municipality officials told me to demolish our existing place of stay following which they could allot me a house. If I will demolish the house, where will we live? I am even facing problems to buy vegetables. How can I manage the family," Babaji lamented.
"Our mother recently died due to lack of treatment. We had no money to take care of her properly. With a lot of difficulties and after taking money from relatives, we managed to perform her last rites," said Laxmipriya Samal, one of the daughters of Babaji.
She further said that her elder sister has developed some mental issues over the last 7-8 years, but due to lack of proper medication, she is not recovering.
"Officials of the municipality should reach out to poor people, but it is not happening here. Besides, the women employees who have been appointed as community organisers are hardly making any field visits," alleged Pradeep Behera, a former corporator.
Samal's pale and wrinkled face speaks volumes about his sufferings. Though he doesn't care about himself, his daughters' future and apathy of the administration are giving him sleepless nights.
It's too strenuous a job for Babaji Samal of #Cuttack to pull rickshaw at the age of 70, but his plights pale before the apathy of the administration which has failed to provide a house for him and his 3 daughters #Odisha pic.twitter.com/1ZyA8tFIvU
— OTV (@otvnews) November 28, 2019
