Thursday, March 28, 2024
ADVT 
India

Another Dasrath Manjhi: Odisha Man Jalandhar Nayak Carves Mountains To Send Kids To School

Darpan News Desk IANS, 10 Jan, 2018 12:25 PM
    Eight hours of gruelling work every day for two years, Jalandhar Nayak has been single-handedly moving mountains to construct a 15-kilometre road, connecting his village Gumsahi to the main road in Phulbani town of Kandhamal district.
     
     
    The district administration has now decided to honour and support Nayak’s efforts by paying him under the MGNREGS scheme.
     
     
    “Nayak’s effort and determination to cut mountains to build a road left me spellbound... He will be paid under MGNREGS scheme for all the days he has worked,” Brundha D told reporters yesterday.
     
     
    Much like Bihar’s ‘mountain man’ Dasrath Manjhi, who has spent 22 years of his life to build a 360-feet road, Nayak, with his steely resolve, has carved out an 8-km-long stretch through hillocks in two years and plans to extend it by another 7 km in the next three years.
     
     
    The 45-year-old tribal man, who has never had access to education, said the problems faced by his three sons in crossing the hillocks to reach school in the town prompted him to take up hammer and chisel.
     
     
    Nayak’s efforts went largely unnoticed until yesterday when the collector invited him to her office, having read reports about him in a local newspaper.
     
     
     
    The collector offered him financial support and directed the Block Development Officer (BDO) of Phulbani to engage labourers and complete the road construction work.
     
     
    Interestingly, Nayak and his family are the only residents of the village. Others have left Gumisahi long ago owing to lack of proper road and essential facilities.
     
     
    Armed with a hammer, digging bar and chisel, Nayak, who earns his livelihood by selling vegetables, wants to make life easier for his sons.
     
     
    He thanked the district administration for recognising his efforts.
     
     
    “The district collector has assured me to complete the construction of the road to my village,” Nayak said.
     
     
    The collector said they are planning to felicitate Nayak for his determination and hard work during the Kandhamal Utsav.
     
     
    “We are thinking of felicitating Jalandhar Nayak during the Kandhamal Utsav for his strong determination to construct a road in this remote part of the state,” she said.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Senior Journalists Accompanying Mamata Banerjee Allegedly Steals Silver Spoons In London, Fined

    Senior Journalists Accompanying Mamata Banerjee Allegedly Steals Silver Spoons In London, Fined
    Some other journalists are believed to have stealthily kept cutlery in their bags during the official dinner at the luxury hotel. But when security staff told them that their act was caught on CCTV cameras, they kept them back on the table, embarrassed

    Senior Journalists Accompanying Mamata Banerjee Allegedly Steals Silver Spoons In London, Fined

    Meet The Artist Who 'NAILS' And Frames His Artworks

    Meet The Artist Who 'NAILS' And Frames His Artworks
    Dusted in muted blues, yellows and pinks, the staccato, precise lines on canvas can be mistaken for wood carving from a distance, but Shekhar Joshi uses neither a chisel nor a brush.

    Meet The Artist Who 'NAILS' And Frames His Artworks

    Does Kendriya Vidyalaya's Morning Prayer Promote Hinduism? Supreme Court To Decide

    Does Kendriya Vidyalaya's Morning Prayer Promote Hinduism? Supreme Court To Decide
    The prayer in Hindi has featured in the morning assembly in more than 1,100 Kendriya Vidyalayas across the country since 1964. It ends with a Sanskrit shloka.

    Does Kendriya Vidyalaya's Morning Prayer Promote Hinduism? Supreme Court To Decide

    SC To Form Fresh SIT To Monitor Probe Into 186 Anti-Sikh Riot Cases

    SC To Form Fresh SIT To Monitor Probe Into 186 Anti-Sikh Riot Cases
      A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra asked the Centre to suggest names on Wednesday itself for its consideration and appointment in the proposed Special Investigation Team (SIT).

    SC To Form Fresh SIT To Monitor Probe Into 186 Anti-Sikh Riot Cases

    Punjab Clears Rs 580 Crore More For Debt Waiver For Farmers

    Punjab Clears Rs 580 Crore More For Debt Waiver For Farmers
    The Punjab government has cleared an amount of Rs 580 crore to give debt waiver to nearly 1.15 lakh debt-ridden farmers in the state.

    Punjab Clears Rs 580 Crore More For Debt Waiver For Farmers

    Navjot Singh Sidhu Announces Rs 24 Lakh For Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Memorial

    Navjot Singh Sidhu Announces Rs 24 Lakh For Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Memorial
    Sidhu said the fund would be used for the development of the site as well as the facilitation of tourists.

    Navjot Singh Sidhu Announces Rs 24 Lakh For Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Memorial

    PrevNext