BHUBANESWAR: It seems Bahrain is close to Kalahandi, but not Bhubaneswar and New Delhi. Moved by the plight of Dana Majhi whose images while carrying his wife's corpse on shoulder were flashed in both national and international media, Prime Minister of Bahrain has come to his aid.
The island country's PM Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa is learnt to have offered monetary help to Dana after he came across a news article on the middle-aged man from Kalahandi district in a Bahraini daily newspaper 'Akhbar Al Khaleej'.
Dana was forced to walk around 10 km carrying his wife Amang Dei's body from the District Headquarters Hospital at Bhawanipatna as he could not afford to hire a mortuary vehicle. His wife had died of tuberculosis.
According a report in Gulf Daily News on Sunday, PM and Premier of Bahrain kingdom was so upset that he felt to help the impoverished man. "The Bahrain PMO contacted the Indian Embassy there and provided financial assistance for the family in an humanitarian gesture," the report stated.
Though the exact amount was not known since the official releases from the Royal family, is sacrosanct and one can't make any queries or ask for additional information, it is learnt that the PM has donated a good amount in Bahraini dinar.
While the gesture of the Premier is hailed by all and sundry, the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the entire episode has left many surprised. Neither did the State nor the Centre offer any financial aid to Dana even four days after the shocking images made headlines.
CM Naveen Patnaik too chose to remain 'silent' after describing the incident 'distressing' and ordering a probe. No substantial help also came from political leaders making a bee-line to Dana's house for finding fact.
The only help Dana, a father of five, four daughters and one son, has so far received is Rs 5,000 released by the district collector from Harischandra Sahayata Yojana even as the administration knows that his financial condition is not better since he depends on shift farming. While he has married off his elder daughter, three are school drop-outs and the younger one is only seven-year-old.