VILLUPURAM: "All I want is a small house for me and my brother so that we can live with dignity," said I Lourthusamy as he recalled his three-year-old fight to seek his rightful shelter under the Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY).
PMAY is the Center's poverty alleviation scheme that is aimed at providing shelter to the urban and rural poor through government assistance. Lourthusamy (59) petitioned for a free house under the scheme in 2019. While he is partially disabled, 55-year-old Mariaprakasam is paralyzed on the right side.
The brothers live in a squalid settlement on their father's land and survive on Lourthusamy's income from driving an auto, and the Rs 1000 that each gets under the old age pension scheme. Their fight for a pucca house intensified after the monsoons this year, after their location near a jungle at Thurinjam Poondi village in Gingee taluk exposed them to reptiles and other insects.
"I can't walk properly but am the only one who takes care of my brother. I have to assist him in eating and attending nature's call. Living in a tent has not been easy. It gets terrible beyond words. Even for sanitation needs we have to resort to the bushes," said Lourthusamy.
Bribe demands, Lourthusamy alleged, shrouded the brothers' eligibility for a house. In one instance, a clerical official in Malaiyanur taluk demanded Rs 30,000 for adding their names to the list of candidates who just require permission for construction. The officials, Lourthusamy noted, often dodged questions around the list despite the brothers having their father's land at their disposal.
Lourthusamy explained that the officials used the land's registration under their father's name, instead of their names, as an excuse to exclude them from the list. "Because we never owned a proper house, I tried to explain my situation in several petitions to the Chief Minister cell but I was not reverted. My name was also not added in the list with the Block Development Officer to qualify for a free house under the PMAY."
In another instance, an official from the Commissionerate for Welfare of the Differently Abled is said to have refused Lourthusamy a loan of Rs 85,000 to buy a cane juicer for a side income.
Hopeful of living in a four-walled house someday, Lourthusamy said, "I kept my things out on the land, covered by a tarpaulin sheet. We are living with roughly two dozen hens and roosters including a guinea fowl and three gamecocks, and that's all the relatives we have."