Poverty continues to haunt Banita

The Pioneer, Nov 26, 2009
PNS | Bhubaneswar

Despite several development schemes the poverty-striken KBK region continues to be caught in a time warp. And the plight of Banita of undivided Kalahandi district speaks volumes for this.

Banita of Amlapalli village in Nuapada (part of the old Kalahandi) district, was sold by her sister-in-law (brother's wife) Phans Punji for a meagre Rs 40. The media reports about Banita being handed over to a visually challenged man had created a sensation and led to a huge embarrassment to then Chief Minister JB Patnaik in the mid-80s.

Former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi had also visited the village Amlapali to get a feel of the abject poverty in the region. After the visit of Rajiv Gandhi a plethora of schemes were announced for the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden masses of the region. But due to slackness of the administrative machinery and siphoning of funds the schemes have failed to make the desired impact for the masses it was intended to.

Banita was sold at the age of 13 to Pati Podha of Khatimunda village of Bongamunda block in Balangir district in 1984. Pati Podha later got her married to his visually challenged son Bidyadhar Podha. Now Banita who is 36 has three daughters, Kalabati(16), Jambubati( 14), Kurnani(8) and two sons Kalinga (12) and Nandina (10).

However, after 25 years Banita is still reeling from abject poverty is still homeless and does not have sufficient income as her husband cannot work. Her son Kalinga sometimes gets some work. She works in an Anganwadi centre to earn her livelihood. Meanwhile, to get her elder daughter married, she is planning to sell her only school- going child Khurnani, who is studying in Class-IV.

The would-be son-in law Naren Kharsel is from Phatamunda village of Bangamunda block, and works in a crusher. Meanwhile, for the engagement ceremony of her daughter Banita has mortgaged her partially constructed Indira Awaas Yojana house for Rs 600. She is presently residing along with her family in a one-room shack of Khatimunda village in the plot of one Tirtha Ganda and has paid him Rs 3,000 by borrowing it from a money-lender. She is now in a soup with the landlord threatening him to vacate the house and on the other hand the money-lender is pestering her to repay the loan. But till now nobody has come forward to help.