BERHAMPUR: People of School Sahi village in Halva panchayat of Rayagada fondly refer to Rupuli Jakaka - a 70-year-old resident - as ‘Mother Teresa of Halva’. For, the frail-looking woman has been bridging the gap between them and the local administration since the last four decades as far as availing government benefits is concerned.
She has so far helped nearly 5,000 people in 18 villages under the tribal-dominated panchayat. It all began when Rupuli’s 41-year-old husband Antara Jakaka - a daily wager - died of an unknown disease 40 years back. When he fell ill, she admitted him to the local health centre and appealed to doctors, nurses for help. Although doctors extended preliminary treatment, there was no improvement in his condition and she had no funds to buy his medicines. “I had reached out to all doctors and government officials who worked in our panchayat for help but none came forward,” she recalls.
A few days later, he succumbed leaving behind Rupuli and a small daughter. “This is when I decided to ensure that none of the people in my panchayat struggle for government assistance,” says Rupuli who resorted to selling non-timber produce from forests surrounding the village to fend for herself and her daughter. She was just 32 then.
Although she struggled to make ends meet, Rupuli started devoting time towards meeting people and knowing about their problems. “Many of them, including myself, were not aware of government benefits or provisions for poor people like us. Be it health benefits, housing aid under Indira Awas Yojana, PDS benefit, old age and disability pension or the basic birth and death certificates,” she said.
For a few hours every day, she would listen to their problems and meet the local school administration to help her write the applications on their behalf. “Sometimes, I would submit the applications to the officials concerned and at times, local youths would help me do so. That way, we made the local administration aware of the livelihood issues we faced. Earlier, since the area is situated in the midst of forests, officials rarely visited us,” she says.
Many years later, the local administration enrolled her as a PDS and old age pension beneficiary which got her 20 kg rice and `500 every month. And when her daughter got married a decade back, Rupuli decided to completely devote herself to the social service.“My primary work is to help people reach out to the government officers for availing various schemes and benefits,” she says.
Today, after finishing her household chores by 9 am, she starts walking to different villages and meeting people. “All of us are uneducated and hence, do not understand what the government is doing for us. There are also many who do not have their children by their side to help them file a basic application for any scheme. I take it as my duty to help such people,” says Rupuli, who takes the help of the local school headmaster Prabhakar Mishra to write the applications. And he obliges each time, she adds.
In recognition of her work, the Rayagada administration felicitated her at the Chaiti Mahotsav recently.
“I am happy that the situation has changed for good today. There are good officers now who are helping people. But there are still places where such officials are unable to reach and people do not know about government benefits. I will continue to do my work for such people,” said a determined Rupuli.