The Hindu : Karnataka News : Will there be sunshine in their lives again?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 29, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka

Karnataka

Will there be sunshine in their lives again?

Firoz Rozindar

Many do not even remember anything more than their names

LOST: Inmates at the destitute centre in Chitradurga.

Chitradurga: Raju was lost in thoughts; he kept staring aimlessly and suddenly burst into tears. Then he began to sob while a fellow inmate was trying to console him.

Raju is among the 29 people living in a destitute centre located near the Chitradurga Railway Station.

Drooping shoulders, shabby clothes and eyes with frozen hopes. This is the sole identity of these homeless, perhaps, forsaken people. Five of them are believed to be insane.

Raju, who hails from Bihar, was caught by the police when he was wandering in the bus stand. A few months ago he was brought to the destitute centre being run by the Social Welfare Department. An awfully thin man, he does not even correctly remember when and how he arrived at Chitradurga.

Javed, another Bihari, who though appeared normal, yet shows similar mental conditions. He said he was brought to Karnataka by a middleman who had assured him of a job. “Two people also came with me. I was new to this place. They left me alone. I could not find my way back home,” he said. When persuaded, he gave a silent look as though he was being stopped by someone from revealing any details.

The tale of Meher Ram is a little different. A resident of Chhattisgarh, he said he came to Karnataka in search of labour. He initially refused to answer. But when asked if he was not interested in going back home, he turned emotional. With eyes full of tears, he said he is no more wanted by his family. Being a literate, he can read and write Hindi. According to him, he left his house a few years ago when his wife was murdered allegedly by her relative over a property dispute. He replied in choking voice, “I want to go home.”

Living in abysmal conditions inside a virtually stinking house, many do not even remember anything more than their names.

“We could send them back to their hometowns, but as most of them do not remember their address, we cannot do much,” said warden Palaiah. He said that most of them were brought here after they were found wandering or begging outside temples.

There is a provision for rehabilitating such people by providing them with training in various income generating activities.

“In the absence of adequate space and a good building, we are unable to offer them any such help,” said District Social Welfare Officer Chinnappa.

Speaking to The Hindu, Deputy Commissioner Amlan Aditya Biswas said that he has made temporary arrangements to relocate them on the city’s Jubilee Building premises till work on a permanent building, which is being built at Gonur, is completed.

He said that he has instructed a psychiatrist at the district hospital to visit the centre regularly.

But, Mr. Palaiah said, the doctor has refused to pay a visit till the destitute are relocated to a clean place.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka