ROURKELA: Krishna Sahu has been working tirelessly for the last 13 years to ensure dignified burial of unidentified and unclaimed bodies in the Steel City. The 52-year-old social worker buried the body of a sexagenarian poor man on Saturday and with this, his total count has now reached a staggering 1,100. At times, his mobile phone rings in the dead of night, but Krishna never misses his call for duty.
An incident 13 years back changed Krishna’s outlook towards life and he has never looked back since then. He recalls his octogenarian mother Choursi Devi used to feed an elderly beggar from Bihar daily. Upon the beggar’s death on May 2006, his body lay on the roadside near Krishna’s residence at Old Station Road for more than 24 hours.
Krishna said he was prompted by his mother to ensure a dignified burial of the body. This was his first step towards an act of humanity which transcends boundaries and relations. On May 22, 2006 he formed a voluntary outfit ‘Doot’ with the motto ‘Adding Dignity to Humanity” with nine members of his business family and five outsiders.
In 2014, Rourkela police signed an MoU with ‘Doot’ as per which he is entitled to Rs 2,500 per body under Harischandra Yojana. However, until now, he has not taken a single penny under the scheme. Krishna said at times he buries 7-8 unclaimed bodies in a month at a total cost of Rs 25,000-Rs 30,000. He said most of the expenditure is borne by him and his elder brother Shiv Sahu while two ‘Doot’ members collectively chip in Rs 5,000 per month.
Krishna said he faced several difficulties in the initial years but gradually things fell in line. He said it is now easier for him to bury all unclaimed bodies after proper legal formalities. During the ‘Pitri Paksh’ ritual on September 29, 2016, Krishna had performed ‘Shraddha’ rituals with ‘Pinda Daan’ for as many as 756 deceased at Gaya, Bihar.
Again on ‘Pitri Paksh’ on October 8, 2018, he had performed ‘Shraddha’ for another 261 deceased at Vedvyas here. He was felicitated by former Odisha Governor MC Bhandare in December 2012 and AICC president Rahul Gandhi in February this year for his act.