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Poverty forced a 58-year-old man of Hatuari village in Raghunathpur block here to send his three children to an orphanage in Kendrapara. Not covered under the social security net, he had been leading a life of penury with no health care or financial support from the administration.
The poignant tale of Purnachandra Swain ended on not so a happy note, hinting at failure of the Government’s delivery system even in the coastal areas.
Childless, Swain had found a girl child from a bush near the village burial ground in 1998 and brought her up as his own. While his wife continued with rituals praying for a child, the couple found a baby boy on the embankment of Hansua river during the 1999 Super Cyclone. They were finally blessed with a girl in 2003. His wife expired last year during the ‘bol bom’ ritual.
Life became difficult when he had to stop working following a stroke. His son Sambhu (13) could manage about ` 50 to ` 100 daily by working as a herdsman which was too little for the four-member family.
Swain said he had requested the district collector and the BDO for benefits and other assistance but in vain. Unwillingly he had to let go of his children, he added. He sent them to an orphanage at Korua in Kendrapara district following the intervention of district child welfare committee.
His elder daughter Parbati (14) said it feels bad leaving their father behind alone but the family did not have money to make both ends meet. Meanwhile, District Collector Narayan Chandra Jena has asked the sub-collector to conduct an inquiry into the incident.
Raghunathpur BDO Kishore Chandra Swain said, as Swain is not a BPL beneficiary, he cannot get financial support under the National Family Benefit Scheme. “We are trying to arrange loans for him,” he said.
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