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‘Dream home’ eludes tribal woman

KORAPUT: Maina Sisa, a tribal woman from Baddiguda village in Lamtaput block of Koraput district, had to borrow money to complete her house due to lack of response from the district administration despite her repeated requests over the period of last three years. She was sanctioned a house under Indira Awas Yojna in 2005. However, her happiness was short-lived. She was given only Rs. 4,182 and 15 bags of cement in the first instalment out of a total grant of Rs. 27,500 she was to receive under the scheme, she said.

The woman was told that the rest of the amount would be paid as the work progresses. But she was not paid any more later, she alleged. She was only a mute spectator to the crumbling house for the last two years. She was not able to complete it for her poor financial condition.

However, her hopes were rekindled last month when Balakrishna Sahu, District Collector of Koraput, paid a visit to her village to conduct a meeting. After a patient hearing of her plight, he directed the BDO of Lamtaput to do the needful. But, a month passed and the authorities were in no mood to go a step further. The tribal woman was determined to complete the house on her own. She approached a local money lender and placed some asbestos sheets on the roof to complete the house to stay. Still she hopes that the district administration would come to her help. “Let no one else face such difficulties that I had faced,” she says while looking at her house.

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