A graduate, Nagaraju could not get gainful employment and had to settle for a job as a security guard in a local company for a monthly salary of Rs. 5000. His wife runs a small shop in the village earning about Rs. 100 a day. They are blessed with two daughters, one pursuing graduation and the other studying Intermediate first year. When the AABY scheme was introduced, Punyamma was away at her parents’ place to undergo treatment for a kidney ailment. Nagaraju worked in shifts in the company and he was not aware of the enrolment. By the time, Punyamma and Nagaraju came to know about the AABY scheme, the enrolment drive had concluded leaving them crestfallen.
“It is our misfortune not to be present when the enrolment was underway. Had I been present, I would have certainly joined the scheme,” Punyamma says . “My job forces me to stay away from home. As I worked in different shifts in the morning, afternoon or in the night, I did not have any information about the enrolment. I was not present when the officials visited the village,” he laments. They are disappointed as children of several members, who had enrolled in the scheme now receive scholarships.
“Our children are in the same age group as others. It is their bad luck that they are not able to enjoy the fruits of Government benefits,” Punyamma rues.
Nagaraju says: “the family members of the deceased in the village are being benefitted from the death claims in the scheme as also the children who get scholarships for their education.’’