Widow's 'illegal' act deprives her of basic rights. Minister offers redemption

A widow's desperate but enterprising measures to fend for her 15-year-old differently-abled son, and just about survive, had deprived her of two basic necessities: drinking water and electricity.

It was these fundamental needs that Bindu put forward at the local body ‘adalat’ held in the presence of local self-government minister MB Rajesh in Alappuzha on Thursday. Bindu lives with her son in a temporary shed at Veliyanad panchayat in Alappuzha. And from this small leaky shed, Bindu runs two businesses, too: a tuition centre and a bunk shop.

Though these are a widow's frenzied but ingenious ways to stay afloat, Bindu's resourcefulness has erected certain technical and legal hurdles in her attempts to secure drinking water and power connections. The main issue was that it was not legally possible for her to secure a house number from the panchayat.

First of all, Bindu’s shed stands on converted paddy land. Bindu had constructed the shed in the corner of a vast paddy field called Cherukattussery padasekharam, which is now left fallow. If the panchayat had given a house number it would have been a violation of the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008.

But even if it was on legal land, Bindu could not have obtained a house number as she was living in a shed and not a proper house. And since the shed is used for multiple purposes - house, tuition, shop - it is not legally possible to even grant a temporary house number.

So without a water connection, Bindu's only source of water was rain. During summer, she was forced to buy water from outside at a prohibitive cost. She has no electricity either.

However, after hearing Bindu's plight at the 'adalat', the minister instructed that she be immediately provided a temporary house number. He also handed her an ownership certificate at the 'adalat' itself. Bindu was unable to control her emotions as she was granted the ownership certificate. Once she submits this ownership certificate to the panchayat, she will be immediately given a water connection.

"Last week too she had called me up and cried saying that the secretary refused to entertain her request," said Sindhu Sooraj, a ward member of Kidangara Bazar where Bindu and her son live. "The secretary is helpless as he cannot give the house number for a shed erected on paddy land," she said.

The other problem is that Bindu's original place is Champakulam, not Veliyanad. "All her documents like her ration card have Champakulam as her address. She came here to begin tuition classes and used to shuttle between her house at Champakulam and her tuition centre at Veliyanad. After her husband had stroke and became bedridden, she found it difficult to manage her home and tuition. So she shifted her family to Veliyanad. This tuition centre then doubled up as her home. Later she started a small shop, too," Sindhu said.

Within two months of her family shifting to Veliyanad, during the 2018 floods, her husband died. "Because her official address is Champakulam, we cannot even recommend her for a house under Life Mission," Sindhu said.

Veliyanad panchayat president Bindhumol said that her problem could have been solved only at the minister's level. "We had put up her case at the ‘adalat’ and, thankfully, M B Rajesh realised that Bindu had a genuine case," Bindhumol said.