Stranded Odias put off return to honour fellow villagers’ request

Hrusikesh Mohanty | TNN | Apr 29, 2020, 04:09 IST

Berhampur: At a time when stranded Odia workers in different states and abroad are eager to return to their native places, some residents of Satrushol village in Ganjam block who are far away from their homes have decided not to come back to honour the request of their fellow villagers.
Satrushol under Ganjam block’s Subalaya panchayat has around 150 families. Around 25 people of the village are stuck in different states and abroad, including the US, the UK and Oman, as well as in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka and Kerala. Most of them had registered their names on the government’s portal, seeking to return, but changed their decision when the villagers requested them not to come back.
“Almost all the stranded workers have kept our request and changed their decision of immediate return,” said former chairperson of Ganjam panchayat samiti, Surath Pahan, who is also a resident of Satrushol.
Pahan said the workers had agreed to return after some months, when the situation normalises. “Some of them communicated their decision to the villagers as well as the sarpanch of Subalaya panchayat, Kabita Swain,” he added. “We have also communicated this to the block development officer (BDO), Ganjam,” said Pahan.
“The villagers have told us about their decision and the decision of the residents who were stranded outside the country and the state,” said BDO, Ganjam, Jyoti Shankar Ray. “It is a welcome decision,” he said, adding that the stranded villagers had not directly spoken to him in this regard.