Guru Mayadhar Raut who is an 91 year old Padma shri Awardee was made to empty the premises of the government bungalow that he had been living since a long time now. The eviction place in Asiad Village in South Delhi.
91 year old padma shri awardee evacuated
As per reports, 12 other padma shri artists who had been living in these government bunglows will be having a similar situation in the coming days. These artists has been identified as – Mohiniyattam dancer Bharati Shivaji, Kuchipudi dancer Guru V Jayarama Rao, Dhrupad singer ustad F wasifuddin Dagar, Rani Shinghal, Kathak expert Geetanjali Lal, Lithograoher KR Subanna, Sarangi Player Kamal Sabri, Devraj Dakoji, Kamalini Artists Jatin das, Pt Bhajan Sopori and singer Rita Ganguly.
For ages these Padma Shri awardee artists has been residing in these government bunglows which were provided to them under central government’s discretionary quota. Some of them were allotted as back in 1980s and others in 2000’s. Now they have been asked to empty the premises as some policy of 2018 has now been expired. Moreover, the government also issued a notice that they have not paid their license fee for years.
According to reports, The government official did not serve any notice prior to the eviction. And within hours, all the personal belongings were thrown out of the street. Many artists has questioned the authorities as why the step was taken at this stage of their life. Many of artists are over the age of 70 and being thrown out of the house leaves them stranded on the road.
As per reprts from the family members of Raut, “they walked in told us we had to lock the door by 5pm. The very least they could have done was give us a 24 hour notice or a week or so to vacate the house. We are artist and we don’t have any other homes where we can relocate at a moment’s notice.”
As per the government and court officials, once the allotment period expires, the artists has to empty the premises.
