Bahrain gives Rs 9L to Odisha tribal

The Kingdom of Bahrain on Thursday offered a red carpet welcome and donated Rs 8.87 lakh to a Odisha tribal who was forced to carry his wife’s body for nearly 12 km, en route to his village, after she died at a hospital last month.

A video of Dana Manjhi walking with a wailing daughter and wife’s body over his shoulder after help eluded him went viral last month, sparking national outrage.

The video caught the attention of the international media too. Moved by the plight, Bahrain prime minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa offered help to Manjhi, who received the cheque at the country’s embassy here.

An illiterate marginal farmer from Kalahandi district, Manjhi has so far been struggling to earn  Rs 2,000 a month and has never even visited Bhubaneswar.

“I have never visited New Delhi or Bhubaneswar. I do not know who donated the money. But I was told, after seeing my plight, the Bahrain Prince gave me the money,” he said. The flood of donations and the near-celebrity status has left him bemused.
 
Dressed in a wrinkled shirt and a dhoti, Manjhi told reporters: “I don’t know how many zeros are there in nine lakh. I will educate them (daughters). They should have a better life. If I had the money, I would not have suffered this much.”

Reports stated that the Odisha government has issued a work order worth Rs 75,000 under the Indira Awas Yojana and has alloted a plot.

While the state government has also promised to bear the cost of educating his daughters, the Bhubaneswar-based Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), too, promised free education to Manjhi’s children.