An elderly couple in Karnataka is forced to live in a toilet as the government hasn’t released their funds for building a house for over a year now. Lakshminarasamma and Obalappa, who are landless farmhands, were granted an Indira House by the gram panchayat at Kadapalakere village in Pavagada taluk one-and-a-half-years back, but now they are forced to live in neighbour’s toilet.

The couple so far has received only Re 1 from the government for the construction of the house and the Panchayat Development Officer Kishore Naik told TNIE that required amount couldn’t be disbursed due to a “technical problem” and the issue will be addressed soon.

TNIE

The couple who belong to backward Kadugolla community falls in BPL category and was selected for a house under Ambedkar Awas Yojna under which the beneficiary would get Rs 1.60 lakh in a phased mechanism. For example, Rs 45,000 is given for laying foundation during the first phase.

The couple, however, has received only Re 1 and their son Subbaraya who sells buttermilk at KR Market in Bengaluru contributed some money to help his parents lay the foundation. They have also raised some loans and finished the foundation work of Rs 45,000 with the hope of getting the first lease of the sanctioned amount from the government.

PDO Kishore Naik admitted to the fact that the couple has received Re 1 so far.

“The house was granted under the Ambedkar Awas Yojna and there was a technical problem. Now we have reported it to the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Housing Corporation Limited (RGRHCL),” he said.