A 10-year-old Janajati divyanga girl named Phalerung Reang from the 47 Mile area in Mungiyakami, under Krishnapur Assembly Constituency in Tripura, is reportedly living in misery due to being deprived of her divyanga allowance.
The young girl was born into a poverty-stricken Jhumia (Shifting Cultivator) family and has faced severe health challenges since infancy. Ironically, she hails from the area that comes under the constituency of Janajati Welfare Minister Bikash Debbarma.
Phalerung’s plight began at the tender age of five months when she fell severely ill with a fever. Her parents rushed her to Munigiyakami Primary Health Center (PHC) for treatment. However, the situation worsened, and the doctor advised them to take Phalerung to GB Hospital in Agartala for further medical attention.
As the family lacked the necessary financial means to afford the trip and treatment in Agartala, the girl could not afford proper treatment. As a consequence, the young girl lost her ability to walk and her voice.
Living in extreme poverty, Phalerung’s parents struggle to make ends meet through meager earnings from Jhum cultivation. Providing a square meal for the family becomes an arduous task, let alone affording the required medical care and education for Phalerung.
Heartbroken and desperate, Phalerung’s father reached out to various government departments and local leaders and urged them to grant his daughter the Divyanga allowance she rightfully deserves. Regrettably, all their appeals have fallen on deaf ears, exacerbating their already dire circumstances, alleged Phalerung’s parents.
“Neither the previous Left Front Government nor the incumbent BJP government paid heed to our pleas. This time the Bikash Debbarma was elected from our constituency and became the Janajati Welfare Minister- we are hopeful that he would intervene and grant my daughter the divyanga allowance, ” the girl’s father commented.