Odisha: Wheelchair-Bound Woman Denied House Under PMAY; Activists Allege Official Apathy

Many times, activists and people with disabilities (PwD) have pointed out the inaccessibility that persists in the country. They continue to be deprived of several opportunities and facilities due to this reason. Minati Sahoo, a wheelchair-bound woman from Bajapur village of Odisha, has a similar story of woe where she continues to be deprived of a proper roof despite visiting government offices for the last three months.

Missing Name And House

For the last three months, it has become a common sight for the panchayat office in Bajapur village to see the wheelchair-bound Minati making rounds for a house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY.) The 28-year-old is entitled to get a house under the PMAY, but she claims that the concerned authorities have been slacking off from including her name in the beneficiary list. Minati said, "The sarpanch assured me of including my name in the list of beneficiaries. But to my surprise, my name was missing from the list which was published on Saturday."

Deprived of the housing benefit, the differently-abled woman continues to live in a dilapidated thatched house with her parents. She goes around the office requesting to have her name added, but to no avail. Minati's father is a daily wager, and her mother is visually-impaired. As their only daughter, she wanted to ensure there's a safe and secure roof under which her family could live.

Despite having a paralysed lower body, Minati has never let her disability hold her back, says social activist Amarbar Biswal. Minati studied up to Class 10 and has always enthusiastically moved around in her tricycle for others' needs. Non-inclusion of her name in the list of beneficiaries is simply an example of official apathy, Amarbar alleged.

Awaiting The Home Under PMAY Scheme

A report by New Indian Express stated that Minati had made history in the village when she became the first physically-disabled woman to win the ward member post in the 2017 panchayat elections. A person with so much capacity and capabilities continues to have to repeatedly request government officials to get a decent home. Meanwhile, the Katanabania sarpanch, Subhasmita Nayak, has conveyed, "We have selected 92 beneficiaries under the PMAY scheme in the first phase. Minati's name is on the waiting list, and it will be added soon." The block development officer of Rajkanika Rabi Narayan Acharya stated that Minati is entitled to get a house under the PMAY, and panchayat body members have been directed to add her name to the second list of beneficiaries.

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