Delay in widow, disability pension disbursal leaves sick tribal woman, autistic son in distress

Idukki: For 49-year-old P C Vimala and her 22-year-old son Sanal, who is diagnosed with Autism spectrum disorders, the widow pension and the disabled pension were their safety net from penury.

After years of hardships living and fighting with the elements and animal raids at a colony near the Aanayirangal Dam, they were rebuilding their lives at plot 228 of the 301 Colony in Chinnakkanal. But the non-payment of widow pension for six months and disabled pension for four months has put Vimala, who is suffering from severe back problems, and Sanal in distress.

The mother-son duo was first allotted a one-acre plot near the dam, locally called ‘Para’, in the vast colony spread over 301 acres in 2003, when the state government initiated the land distribution scheme for tribal people.

But the life on Para was far from smooth. They were literally living atop a huge rock, inside a temporary dwelling covered in tarpaulin sheets. They strengthened it with some tin sheets given by a group of kind-hearted trekkers.

When local media highlighted their abject condition (living without electricity and under the constant threat of elephant raids), Vimala and Sanal were shifted to plot 228 in 2021.

Vimala also has three daughters. They are married and now live with their families in Adimaly and Thiruvananthapuram, Vimala said.

“Shifting from ‘Para’ to the new plot was a relief as life became less difficult for us. A concrete house was built as part of the LIFE housing scheme of the state department. Several organisations and persons came forward to assist us. Local politicians also made lofty promises of assisting us, but they were not kept. people who offered to help us withdrew later hearing these assurances,” Vimala told Onmanorama.

Vimala and her son were heavily dependent on the monthly widow and disability pensions. They somehow managed to meet their expense for food and medicine with both pensions. But the delay in payments for months has made their life utterly miserable again.

Vimala started going to work again. She gets daily wages to work employment guarantee scheme in the colony. But she has to lock up her son inside the house when she goes to work. “I have been taking medicines for renal ailment and slipped disc. Doctors at Adimaly Taluk Hospital asked me to take complete rest to cure my severe back pain. But that is not possible in the current scenario," Vimala said. "I have to work to find money for my medicine," she said.

"But I know my health is deteriorating. With my disc prolapse worsening, I can’t go to work now and I am not able to feed my son properly. We have nothing else but the rice we get from PDS (ration shops)," she said.

She had contacted CPM state secretary M V Govidan, who had earlier intervened to build a proper house for her at the Colony. “I spoke to the MLA and the MP concerned and explained my situation. However, I am yet to receive the assured assistance,” Vimala said. The officials at the Tribal Development Office in Adimaly said that they were aware of the matter and had sought documents from her doctors to apply for financial aid for her treatment.

"My daughters are not well off to look after me and Sanal. With my health deteriorating, we wish to move out of the colony which is now a deserted place with only 25 families residing here permanently. Beyond the Singukandam Junction, the area is abandoned. Our nearest neighbour is four plots (acres) away.

"Nine tribal families in the colony have told officials that they will leave 301 Colony if they are given a place with better access to hospital and other facilities,” Vimala said.

She has also appealed to voluntary organisations to come forward to take care of her autistic son.