Afflicted family struggles to avail govt schemes

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, March 3

Without a permanent source of income, labourer Mushtaq Mohd (38), a heart patient, and his physically challenged sisters have been struggling to become beneficiaries of various government schemes, as the officials of the state government have not deemed the members of family potential enough to avail the schemes.

The family resides in ward no 4 of Khurd village. Their accommodation is devoid of walls, and basic amenities such as toilets.

“To get the grant for renovation of our house and construction of a toilet, we had filed applications in the past with all required documents, but to no avail. Neither do we have any agriculture land nor do we have any permanent source of income. Despite all this, officials concerned have been rejecting our pleas for the release of grants without giving us any reason,” said Mohd while sitting with his physically challenged sisters, Jamila (50) and Asifa (35), his wife Safita and his daughter.

The family narrates how their ordeal gets compounded during rainy season as due to leakage, they have to shift their housing items to other places. So far only the sisters have been receiving the benefit of the Atta-Dal scheme as the authorities concerned had refused to extend the scheme to all members.

“When we asked the officials the reason for not extending the Atta-Dal scheme to my wife, daughter and me, they didn’t respond. The disability pension and the scheme’s benefits reach my sisters after months. Being a heart patient, many a times, even I have to sit at home because of my ailing condition,” he said.

Yameen Mohd, president of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Welfare Club, Khurd village, said they had been trying to pool in some money with the help of area residents to build a toilet for the family.

“The authorities concerned must ensure that the family gets benefit of all schemes,” said Rajwant Singh Ghulli, AAP president, Sangrur.

When contacted Malerkotla SDM Vikramjit Singh Panthey, he said: “I will check, as at present, I don’t have any complaint from their side lying pending in my office. I will take action immediately, if required.”