BHOPAL: Tribal labourer-turned-painter Jodhaiya Bai Baiga, 84, one of the 91 Padma Shri awardees this year, is still awaiting a pucca house that was promised to her when she was given the Nari Shakti Puraskar in Delhi last year.
The octogenarian, a widow, lives with her teenage grand-daughter Rupa in the clay plaster- and asbestos-thatched hut at Lorha village, Umaria district, Madhya Pradesh. She is elated at being selected for the coveted award but is equally sad for not having a proper house.
Recounting her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the eve of Nari Shakti Puraskar in March 2022, she said: “I hugged Modiji and shared my pain about not having a pucca house, after which he promised that I will get a house. But I still live in a kutcha house.”
However, Umaria district collector K D Tripathi told this newspaper that her name doesn’t figure in the list of those selected for PM Awas scheme. “Being awarded Padma Shri and getting a PM Awas are two separate issues. Linking them would be inappropriate,” he added.