BJD slams Odisha govt over hardships faced by women pilgrims

Bhubaneswar: The BJD on Friday slammed the Odisha government over alleged hardships faced by elderly women who came to Puri’s Shree Jagannath temple to observe ‘Kartik Brata’, alleging that the BJP dispensation “failed” to make adequate arrangements for them. The BJD spokesperson, Lekhashree Samantsinghar, claimed that the elderly pilgrims had to spend nights on the streets in the coastal town due to a “lack of lodging facilities”.

“Many women suffered as they were denied accommodation and other facilities. They spent the nights on the streets. This government has hurt the religious sentiments of people,” she alleged. A large number of women, mostly above 70 years of age, visit Shree Jagannath temple in Puri and observe ‘Kartik Brata’. They are called ‘habishyali’.

“Previously, our government used to make elaborate arrangements of lodging and food for ‘habishyalis’. We had also made arrangements for transportation for them from the places of stay to the temple. Last year, around 3,200 ‘habishyalis’ were provided with all facilities by the previous BJD government for observing the ‘Kartik Brata’.”

“With the change of government, the elderly women suffered a lot. This was due to lack of arrangements,” Samantsinghar said. The BJD spokesperson also alleged that this “failure” by the BJP government has “hurt Odia Asmita (pride)”.

“The BJP government has been exposed. The saffron party pledged to uphold ‘Odia Asmita’ and protect the State’s culture, tradition and heritage. ‘Habishyalis’ faced hardships in the holy month of Kartik due to the BJP government’s failure. The State government has hurt the faith of ‘habishyalis’,” she alleged.

Samantsinghar said the previous BJD government had made arrangements at Brindabati Niwas, a seven-storey building, to accommodate the visiting ‘habishyalis’ in Puri. Earlier, arrangements were also made at other places in Puri for these pilgrims.

“This year, only 2,500 women are provided with the facilities while a large number of ‘habishyalis’ were denied accommodation. In a welfare State, it is the responsibility of the government to provide basic facilities to the people observing the month-long ‘Kartik Brata’,” she said.

Puri District Collector Siddharth S Swain said the administration has started making efforts to address the issues like providing accommodation to the pilgrims who have not registered themselves so far. Earlier in the day, some ‘habishyali’ women fell ill at the Brindabati Niwas and were admitted to a hospital there.