Rajesh had ‘secure’ life goals to survive until he saw the desperation to survive and need of justice all around him – in his country, community, even in his own family. As a young man, Rajesh had always dreamed of having a “secure job and secure earnings, with more than enough to survive.”  That all changed one day when he…

Rajesh Gupta

Share

Bundeli, a 65-year-old woman from Chhattisgarh is living like a refugee in someone else's backyard. All her worldly belongings are bundled up in a small sack by the side of her bed, a space on a bare  ground. But Bundeli once had a house up until September 10, 2016 . 

Bundeli was thrilled when she was nominated to received financial assistance from her district office Gharghoda under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin (PMAYG). An Indian a social welfare programme for rural housing, PMAYG provides financial assistance worth INR 120,000 (US$1,800)to Below the Poverty Line (BPL) families so that they can construct a brick and mortar house for a better quality of living.

The string of corruption had started when Bundeli was given her first instalment of Rs. 25,000. She had only received Rs. 8,000 from that sum. But an elated Bundeli started to build her home anyhow. As she got the brick walls built, she eagerly waited for her subsequent instalments which would ensure cemented walls and floors and a toilet. But after six years, her wait is now over. As of September 10th 2016, her house is a just a pile of broken bricks and broken promises for better lives. 

With the PMAYG, the Central Government has promised to give assistance for  brick and mortar housing facilities across rural India by 2022. Under the scheme, the government aims to build 10 million houses at the cost of INR 81,975 crore. But while the state and centre sanction huge budgets for 'rural development', cases such as Bundeli's expose the instances of embezzlement at the ground level, where there are no checks in place.  

"This injustice is a result of corruption. The sanctioned money is distributed between the village head and government officials, robbing people like Bundeli of their rights," says Dharamchandra Panda, Bundeli's neighbour tells Rajesh Gupta, Video Volunteers Community Correspondent.

For the last two years, Rajesh had been helping Bundeli get her pending financial assistance. He had repeatedly spoken  to Mr C L Siddar, the Chief Executive Officer  of his district, requesting him to examine the state of Bundeli's pending assistance. But the apathy of  Mr Siddar resulted into Bundeli being a refugee in someone else's backyard.

The loss of the house is the loss of justice and human rights that Bundeli is entitled to. Call C L Siddar on +91-9617056009 and demand that Bundeli gets her house. 

Community correspondent Rajesh Gupta reports from Chhattisgarh for Video Volunteers.

This video was made by a Video Volunteers Community Correspondent. Community Correspondents come from marginalised communities in India and produce videos on unreported stories. These stories are ’news by those who live it.’ they give the hyperlocal context to global human rights and development challenges. See more such videos at www.videovolunteers.org. Take action for a more just global media by sharing their videos and joining in their call for change. we could hyperlink to some VV pages, like our take action page.