A mud house
roofed by a tattered blue tarpaulin is where Puttanalal, along with his three
sons, lives. This tarpaulin sheet saves them from heavy rainfall. When Gaon
Connection visited Puttanlal’s house, it was raining heavily, which converted
the so-called house into a swamp. Recently, his younger son died because of
snake-bite. The incident occurred in the same house.
Puttanlal, a
rickshaw puller, lives in Lalpalpur village in Sursa block in Hardoi district
of Uttar Pradesh. He is one of the many citizens who are miles away from any of
the government schemes. His pathetic condition exposes the ground reality of the
number of schemes launched by the government
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“It’s been three years that I have been doing the rounds of our pradhan’s home. But I couldn’t get a house to live in. Out of helplessness, I live in this house along with my three children. We can’t sleep on the floor. So, I have made a raised platform using a ply of wood. One night, snake bit one of my children. By the time we realised this, he passed away on our way to the hospital.”
Puttanlal
couldn’t avail the Ujjwala Yojana scheme under which he could have got an LPG
connection. He does not have a ration card. “My wife died five years ago. I am
raising my three children by pulling a rickshaw. My financial condition is not
good. I can’t repair this house or send my kids to a school,” said Puttanlal.
“I remain
ill, almost on all days. What will happen to my kids after me?” asked Puttanlal,
looking helplessly at his son. After he lost his seven-year-old son to snake
bite, many social workers and officials visited him. Some gave him necessary items
like a wooden charpoy and a gas stove.
Puttanalal along with his sons lives in a mud house roofed by a tattered blue tarpaulin
The blame
game begins
Our next
stop was gram pradhan Sarita Singh’s house. Although she is the village head, her
brother and nephew manage her work. Her nephew, Sourabh Singh, said, “Puttanlal
came to us asking for a house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. We have forwarded
his name. But how can he get a house when even the gram panchayat hasn’t got any
awas (house)?”
“Our village
has only eight awas, which we got two years back in 2017,” said Sourabh adding,
“Puttanlal is not a resident of this village. His wife lived in this village.
He has been living here from the past seven years. We helped him in making his
Aadhar card; we have given his name for the voter ID. After the tragedy struck
and his son died, he was made eligible for the Antyodaya Anna Yojana. We had already
asked the ration distributer to give Puttanlal the ration he needed.”
Sourabh
believes the system works too slowly, which is why many people don’t get to
avail of many of the government schemes. He added, “The story is not limited to
Puttanlal. We had given the names of 39 people for Awas, but people are still
waiting. Many villagers still live in the kachha homes.”
When Gaon
Connection met Nidhi Gupta Vats, the chief development officer (CDO) in Hardoi,
and inquired about the housing, she said: “I am aware of the incidence. I will
check why so many people haven’t received housing.”
