N’pada orphan minor girl forced to migrate

Torani (7), an orphan girl of Boldha village of Nuapada district, didn't have any option but to accompany her elder sister and her husband to a place near Ahmadabad to take care of their two small children when they work as labourers in a construction site.

"It was a good decision. She had no one to support her in the village, neither had she a shed over her head," informed the villagers, showing a roadside dilapidated mud house, which once happened to be a home for Torani and her parents a couple of years ago.

"Torani probably does not remember her mother's death but she wept a lot when her father died. On the day of her father's death, she came running to me and pulled me to his cot to know why his body was still,” said Mitu Nial, Torani father’s elder brother.

According to the villagers, Torani's mother after suffering from a wound in the thigh for about six months, died two years ago. "Her father lost his health in depression and died in November," they informed.

Torani'd brother in-law, Pustam, informed over phone that Torani is with his family in a construction site located in Ujala, fifty km far from Ahmadabad. "She takes care of our children, when we work. We will be back before Ratha Yatra," said Pustam. Pustam wants to perform the Kundabera of Taruni next year. "It has to be performed before she attains puberty; that's why we are working overtime to earn a little more to meet the expenses of the function.

To explain why the villagers are forced to migrate, Nilabati, a girl of the village, holds the MGNREGS responsible. "Job is not available regularly in the village. When it is available under job card (MGNREGS), you will not be paid the wage in time. They have not yet paid my dues even after a year of completion of the project," she lamented.

The villagers informed that they had requested the Sarpanch and the Panchayat Executive to provide rice under PDS to Torani, but it was not taken into consideration.

"This clearly reflects the status of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao endeavour of the Government in the rural areas. Mere slogan will not bring the change," said Khirasindhu Sagaria, a human rights worker.