PARALAKHEMUNDI, 19 NOV: Irate villagers of Guddisahi, of Gajapati district, held the Gram Rojgar Sevak (GRS) of Karadasingi gram panchayat in Rayagada block hostage, for more than 36 hours, while demanding an investigation into the alleged misuse of their BPL cards. The villagers also demanded compensation to the families, whose cards had been misused.
The official, who had been held hostage, could only be rescued the next morning, when a team of officers from the block, along with the police rushed to the village and agreed to discuss the demands forwarded by the villagers.
It may be mentioned here that the official, Mr Rasa Behari Patra, had been sent to Guddisahi to handover the villagers, their duplicate BPL cards, since the genuine cards had never reached them, in the first place.
This unfortunate story of misplaced BPL cards is more than seven years old. When villagers from Guddisahi applied for their BPL cards, 16 families out of 27 odd families in this backward village, did not receive them. For the next many years these villagers ran from pillar to post, asking all the concerned official to look into their grievances.
It was only a couple of months back, when the local media exposed that all the 16 cards were in circulation but under different names, that the administration order a thorough probe into the matter.
During the course of the investigation by the block officials, it was revealed that the cards were in the hands of some other individuals, while the genuine beneficiaries were still seeking cards for their families.
As per the instructions from the collector, Mr Prakash Chandra Das, 16 duplicate cards were issued to the real owners. The GRS, Rasa Behari Patra, had gone to the village to distribute these duplicate cards. But, the irate villagers detained the GRS stating that they will release him only after getting all the benefits that they had been deprived of, for so long. The villagers demanded a compensation for the long years that they suffered due to, non-receipt of the card and the inefficacy of the administration to correct the situation.
The GRS, Patra, tried to make the tribal villagers understand that it was beyond his jurisdiction to do anything on the matter and that they would have to talk with the administration. The villagers, who took this as an evasion of responsibility, did not relent and held Mr Patra hostage.
Prafulla Sabara, a villager, said that it was only after the tribals had threatened to launch an agitation that the administration reacted. The officials probably reacted because the media had exposed the faux pas. The villagers refused to free the GRS until the administration discussed their grievances with them.
The next morning, officials rushed to the spot and freed Patra.
On the issue of misplaced and consequently, misused, BPL cards, BDO, Rayagada, Lal Mohon Roy said, "I was a bit puzzled on getting this news and after investigation we detected that 3 cards were getting the benefits while 13 cards were not in use. I am not aware as to how this has happened as this occurred long before I joined this post."
This incident acts as an eye-opener to the officials of Gajapati district. Social activists in the area are decrying the distress that real beneficiaries of the card had to endure whereas others who were able to lay their hands on these cards illegally, were reaping the benefits of BPL cards. Had the matter received the attention of the officials at the right time the mistake would not have taken so long to get rectified, they asserted.