layman's space

Shelter badly needed for poor Nuapada family Saturday, 05 June 2021  |  AJIT PANDA  | NUAPADA https://www.dailypioneer.com/2021/state-editions/shelter-badly-needed-for-poor-nuapada-family.html After knowing about the plight of one Akhila Sabar and his family of Kotamal village of Ranimunda GP in Nuapada district, Pradeep Kumar Pradhan, Chairman of the Taluk Level Legal Services Committee (TLSC), Khariar, has asked the local BDO to initiate immediate steps to ensure basic rights to the family that consists of Akhila, his wife Munge and their three grandchildren. Based on a news report that Akhila, Munge and their grandchildren Kabita, Priyanka and Babita are in a miserable condition due to poverty, the Odisha State Legal Services Authority had initiated suo moto action and intimated the TLSC to cause an enquiry.  The TLSC by engaging a paralegal volunteer (PLV) had collected report on the livelihood of Akhila. Stating that the report well confirms with the news publis...

Sunabeda PVTG now exposed to Covid Friday, 04 June 2021  |  AJIT PANDA  | NUAPADA https://www.dailypioneer.com/2021/state-editions/sunabeda-pvtg-now-exposed-to-covid.html The Chakotia Bhunjia community, one of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) of Odisha living in the Sunabeda wildlife area of Nuapada district, which had been untouched by Covid-19 in its first wave and had remained unaffected till end of May, has been exposed to the virus in the second wave. Out of antigen tests of 100 people held in the village Salepada and Chhinmundi of Sunabeda panchayat, six asymptomatic persons have been found corona positive. "We are informed that one person of Sanbaheli village whose swab had been sent to Bhubaneswar has been found positive," informed Mansa Pradhan of Sunabeda.  "Out of 70 swabs collected from people of Junapani and Sunabeda villages in last week of May, only one was found positive in the RTPCR test. The total number of positive persons reached ...

N’pada labourer dies of Covid sans treatment Friday, 28 May 2021  |  AJIT PANDA  | NUAPADA https://www.dailypioneer.com/2021/state-editions/n---pada-labourer-dies-of-covid-sans-treatment.html Rohit Kand, a poor labourer of Sunapur village of Boden block in Nuapada district, died of Covid-19 on May 21. His wife Khame says that she had taken him to the  Mission Hospital at Khariar, when he complained of breathing problem on May 20. "They conducted a test and said that he had corona and asked me to take him to another hospital. But I didn't have money to take him outside and returned to my home," says Khame. Rohit died next day morning. Rohit, Khame and their child had returned from a Hyderabad brick kiln on May 12 when Rohit fell ill in the kiln. He stayed at home without any medical test or proper treatment till May 20. "I brought some medicines from  a village 'daktar' (quack), which he (Rohit) took, but that didn't work," added Khame, who was paid R...

Poor Khariar family deprived of Govt benefits Wednesday, 26 May 2021  |  AJIT PANDA  | NUAPADA Durmila Rout lives with her husband and two girl children at Mahulkot village of Khariar block in Nuapada district. The Rout couple used to earn their livelihood as daily wage labourers. Durmila’s husband Mangal was migrating to different brick kilns for job before the Covid-induced lockdown. "We have lost all these options now due to corona. It is difficult to find regular jobs locally," says Durmila. "My daughters are reading in schools; they are in Classes-V and VII. I don't know what they would do when they are grown up," she wonders. Durmila was getting 35 kg of rice under PDS as she was in the Antodaya Anna Yojana category, but she was excluded from NFSA after the implementation of the scheme. Her request for her inclusion under the State food security scheme was also turned down. "I am not getting PDS since last four years," says she. Mangal stayed in ...

No Mandi, Nuapada farmers’ paddy lost in rain Monday, 24 May 2021  |  AJIT PANDA  | NUAPAD https://www.dailypioneer.com/2021/state-editions/no-mandi--nuapada-farmers----paddy-lost-in-rain.html Kalicharan Dash of Tukla village in Nuapada district wants a paddy procurement centre (Mandi) to open as soon as possible. His 336 bags of paddy harvested from seven acres of land this Rabi season are lying in the open in the threshing field. "I have already incurred loss of about 60 bags (30 quintals) of paddy due to the untimely rain. The weather still looks uncertain. If it rains further, I would be ruined," says Kali.  Saroj Dash of the same village is a progressive farmer who applies all available new technologies in his farming. "I spend more in technology and get higher yield than others. But there is no way getting respite from the untimely rain, I lost more than 20 quintals paddy due to rain," says he.  Ramkara Podh, who is a marginal farmer of this village, has n...

These Covid warriors don’t share their hardships Wednesday, 19 May 2021  |  AJIT PANDA  | NUAPADA https://www.dailypioneer.com/2021/state-editions/these-covid-warriors-don---t-share-their-hardships.html There is no fixed time of their duty. They rush to people whenever there is a phone call carrying with them the antigen test kits, PPEs and all other equipments and medicines required for testing and treating people for Covid-19. Testing, contact tracking, providing medicines, making arrangements for shifting affected persons to the Covid Care Centres and hospitals have become their regular job these days. Their commitment and timely assistance save hundreds of lives from the clutches of coronavirus. They are the frontline Covid fighters of the Health Department like ASHA, Anganwadi Workers, health workers, nurses and Ayush doctors who have been working tirelessly for the sake of humanity without caring for their own lives.  Two such committed frontline Covid warriors...

Moving tales of Covid victims in Nuapada Sunday, 09 May 2021  |  AJIT PANDA  | NUAPADA https://www.dailypioneer.com/2021/state-editions/moving-tales-of-covid-victims-in-nuapada.html Ashok Sunani of Ulbha village of Komna block in Nuapada district is yet to resume his earning as a wage worker although he has completed the quarantine period after being affected by corona two and a half weeks ago.  "I am feeling breathless if I do physical labour and even after walking a little distance," says Ashok, whose father Mangal Singh died of Covid on April 26, two days after being relieved from the Covid Hospital at Nuapada. "The hospital staffs had advised us to shift my father to a hospital with improved facilities, but we could not," adds Ashok, who is the sole bread earner of the family of five, his wife, mother and two children.  Ashok's wife and mother had also been suffering from Covid and in home quarantine. The family was in distress due to lack of food until the ...