Forgotten by the System: Kalahandi’s Nabin Nag family battles poverty and neglect

By Sudharam Sarap

Bhawanipatna, July 2: In the heart of Odisha’s Kalahandi district, where government welfare schemes promise to uplift the underprivileged, one family’s desperate struggle for survival lays bare the enduring gaps between policy and ground reality.

For 55-year-old Nabin Nag of Badtemri village under Jaipatna block, life has been a relentless battle against poverty, neglect, and official apathy. Decades have passed, yet his family of five continues to live in heartbreaking conditions — huddled under a makeshift polythene sheet beside a swampy patch of land, with no permanent shelter, no food security, and no access to government aid.

Nabin, along with his wife Champa and three children — Debaki, Gita, and Shibam — has been left out of welfare benefits due to the absence of Aadhaar cards for four family members. Their repeated attempts to obtain these vital identity documents have gone in vain. As a result, they are deprived of basic entitlements like free ration, housing schemes, and healthcare facilities.

“Every day is a struggle to fill our stomachs. We are not counted, we don’t exist in the eyes of the government,” lamented Nabin, his weathered face reflecting years of unspoken suffering. His family survives on meagre daily wages, their poverty made more unbearable by a system that has, for reasons unknown, excluded them.

Locals in Badtemri expressed outrage at the family’s plight, accusing authorities and NGOs alike of ignoring their appeals for help. “It’s a disgrace that in today’s time, a family still lives like this. Where are the schemes for the poor? Where is the humanity?” questioned a concerned villager.

Disturbingly, when attempts were made to contact Jaipatna Block Development Officer (BDO) Dharmaraj Majhi for a response, the official remained unreachable.

According to social scientists, the suffering of Nabin Nag’s family is not just a story of poverty, but a searing indictment of the gaps in governance and the failure of social safety nets. It demands immediate and compassionate intervention from both the district administration and humanitarian agencies.

“Issuing Aadhaar cards, providing emergency shelter, ration cards, and healthcare facilities should be treated as urgent priorities. Civil society must also step forward to ensure that such forgotten families are not left to perish in silence,” says Dr Gourang Charan Rout, a development activist.