Jajpur, Orissa: The death of a daily wage earner, who was suffering from TB, in Jajpur district has triggered allegation that he had died due to starvation.
Madan Das (41), who hailed from Daitary area of neighbouring Keonjhar district, was working as a daily wage earner in Kuakhia bazar for the last seven years.
Kalandi Kantha, a social worker, today alleged that Das died yesterday going without food for three days staying under a tree after he was taken out of a hospital as his
teen-aged daughter could not afford the medical expenses.
"We are looking into the allegation. I have asked the Additional District Magistrate to inquire into it", district Collector Pramod Kumar Mohanty said.
Das and his 12-year-old daughter Juli used to stay at a relatives`s house. However, they had been removed after Das was diagnosed to be suffering from TB, Kantha said.
While Das stayed beneath a mango tree near Kuakhia, his daughter was staying at nearby Chandipur where she worked in an agro processing unit, he said.
The girl had borrowed Rs 6000 from her employer for her father`s treatment at the Community Health Centre at Madhuban. Das was referred to SCB Medical College Hospital at Cuttack after his condition deteriorated, he said.
However, as his condition did not improve and it was not possible to meet further medical expenses, he was taken back to the mango tree where he died yesterday, Kantha said.
The poverty alleviation schemes like NRHM and NREGA failed to save Das, he said.
PTI
