Minor school boy working to buy uniforms meets accident; loses hand

Reported by Debabrata Sana
Malkangiri, July 17:

In yet another shocker for Odisha, a 17 year old class IX student in Malkangiri lost one of his hands in his bid to earn money to buy a pair of school uniform for himself.

Sources said B Yakub, a poor class IX student of IMST English Medium School, in Malkangiri district headquarters town, met with an accident when he came in contact with a live electric wire while measuring a part of the road. The impact of the electric shock was so high that a large part of Yakub’s body was burnt in the accident.

Yakub worked in a road construction project under PMGSY as he did not have enough money to buy a pair of school uniforms.

Doctors at the King George Government Hospital in Visakhapatnam, where he is presently undergoing treatment for his burns, had to amputate one of his hands to prevent the infection from spreading, hospital sources said. Doctors feel even his other hand and one of his legs may require to be amputated as the infection was spreading rapidly, the sources added.

Sources said the concerned contractor and the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) had tried their best to hush up the incident, which took place 45 days back. Even the contractor has recorded the age of the child as 26 years though his school records show him to be only 17 years old, the sources added.

After the matter became public, the BDO Korukunda Saroj Kumar Pradhan, the District Child Protection Officer Narayan Das and the District Labour Officer conducted an inquiry into the incident.

BDO Saroj Kumar Pradhan said; “After the accident, the contarctor first got the child admitted to Malkangiri district headquarters hospital here. After his condition aggravated, he shifted the child to King George Hospital, Visakhapatnam. We have come to know that one of his hands has been amputated”.

“The condition of the child is very serious as we have come to know. Collector Sir has advised to visit Visakhapatnam and see to it that every possible care is taken in his treatment. His treatment expenses will be borne by the government, District Child Protection Officer Saroj Kumar Pradhan said.

It may be recalled here that Jayanti Nayak alias Banita a 14 year old class VII student, had committed suicide by setting herself ablaze on June 25 after her parents said they didn’t have enough money to buy her basic stationery like pencil and notebook and other study materials.