BHUBANESWAR:Sharpening its attack on the Government for the Boudh incident in which villagers refused to help an ostracised man in performing the last rites of his sister-in-law, the BJP on Thursday said the State has been shamed once again for the inefficiency of the ruling BJD.
“It seems nothing has changed in Odisha after the Dana Majhi incident two years back which created a nationwide outrage after a video of the tribal man carrying his wife’s body for 10 km in Kalahandi district went viral,” State BJP president Basanta Panda told a media conference.
Dubbing the ruling BJD as a publicity crazy party, Panda said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is never tired of announcing schemes. But he does not care to know if the scheme is reaching to the desired beneficiaries or not, he said.
“What happened to the Harischandra Yojana which aimed at providing financial assistance to poor and destitute for conducting last rites of their family members?” Panda questioned.The BJP chief criticised the Government for not giving justice to Chaturbhuja Banka of Krushnapalli village in Boudh who has been ostracised by villagers for opting for second marriage with a woman from other caste.
While none of his relatives and fellow villagers came to his aid, the man also did not get any help from the local administration. Banka had no option but to carry the body of his sister-in-law on a bicycle to perform the last rites on Wednesday.
Coming down heavily on the Chief Minister for his ‘Ama Gaon Ama Vikash’ scheme under which projects are sanctioned directly to villagers without involving elected representatives, Panda sought to know what kind of development Naveen was talking about when poor people are unable to give a decent funeral to their loved ones.