Malkangiri: Ghasiram Pangi of Kumbharguda village at Podia block in the district is eligible to get a house under the Indira Awas Yojana, but he has to live in a toilet allotted under the Swachh Bharat Yojana.
The 60-year-old man is living in a 4ftx5ft toilet after being cheated by a middleman, identified as K. Lachmeya of the same block, in the construction of his house under the housing scheme for the rural poor.
Since 2016, Ghasiram has been staying - only 500m away from the block headquarters - in a precarious condition in the toilet, yet his misery seems to be a never-ending one.
Ghasiram, who was a daily labourer, used to live in a hut at Kumbharguda village. In 2009, he had been allotted a house under the central government's housing scheme. However, he was completely ignorant about the official procedures to pursue and avail himself of the scheme.
Finding himself in a spot of bother, Ghasiram had approached Lachmeya and sought his help to build his house. Lachmeya, a local youth, reportedly helps people get work done for a fee.
A frustrated Ghasiram had sought Lachmeya's help to withdraw sanctioned money from the bank.
"He promised to help me. But after laying the foundation of my home, the work didn't progress. When I enquired about it at the block office, I was told that the entire amount had been withdrawn from the bank. On hearing this, I confronted that middleman. But, he didn't give me any satisfactory answer," said Ghasiram, who did not even approach police.
"However, as I needed a roof over my head and had no other option, I got back to my dilapidated hut," he said.
In the past several years, Ghasiram has approached the panchayat and block officials to help him get his allotted house under the Indira Awas Yojana, but in vain.
On this, block development officer Dharanidhar Nayak said: "I will send a junior engineer to the spot to verify the issue."
Cheated in the Indira Awas Yojana, Ghasiram, however, had seen a ray of hope in the government's another scheme for the poor - this time, the Swachh Bharat Yojana. In 2015, he had been allotted a toilet under the swachh Bharat scheme.
"After the toilet's construction was completed, I shifted to it with my belongings as the hut was severely damaged and I had no money to repair it," he said.
"Though the toilet is too small a space to live in, I somehow manage to stay there as I have no other option. Now, I can at least feel safe in the toilet during summer and monsoon rather than staying in the damaged hut, which may collapse at any point of time," he said.
At present, frail Ghasiram depends on meagre Rs 300 that he gets as pension. His body is too weak to take up any laborious job. Malkangiri collector Manish Agarwal expressed his ignorance about the issue, but said he would look into the matter. "I will verify the matter and necessary action will be taken," he said.
