BDO comes to the rescue of starving family

Statesman News Service

MALDA, Dec 11: The Bamongola block development officer, Mr Prasanta Kumar Guho, today extended cash relief of Rs 120 to a family of 10 who were struggling to survive. The family was starving for the past 10 days. With the help of the local RSP leaders Pusan Mirdha, the head of the family, resident of Siskuri village under Bamongola gram panchayat today met Mr Guho and explained the condition he and his family was in. “ With no foodgrain at home and no money to purchase any either, we survived on plants and leafy vegetable for the last 10 days,: Mirdha told the BDO. The BDO Mr Guho, said: “They undoubtedly belong to the poorest of the poor family. It is difficult to understand how they managed to survive these many days without any food. We shall inquire into the matter.” The official further added that he gave the family Rs 120 as cash relief and instructed the local panchayat pradhan to provide rice and wheat to the family members. Although he wanted to, the BDO could not provide rice or wheat to the stricken family, as there was no stock of such edibles at the block office. Interestingly, a few members of Mirdha’s family had received job cards under the national rural employment guarantee scheme but they did not get any job under the project till date. The BDO has assured that they would be getting100 days’ job on priority basis. It was also learnt that Mirdha’s only source of sustenance was his son-in-law who supplies water to the local shops. But the situation got worse after the son-in-law fell ill and the family went without an income. The local RSP leaders claimed that the example proved that many families in the area were facing starvation problem. “Lack of employment opportunity has worsened the situation,” they said. The leaders also blamed the local Congress and BJP led gram panchayat for the situation. The Malda SDO Ms Arunima De has instructed the local gram panchayat pradhan Ms Basanti Mondal to provide government relief to the suffering family immediately.