Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has instructed Social Welfare Minister Ajanta Neog to investigate into the feud between the co-founders of Mother Old Age Home Monica Sarma and Utpal Harshvardhan.
The ongoing feud between the co-founders of Mother Old Age Home has affected the elderly folks in the shelter home. The folks in the shelter home have also chosen to left the house and wants to go back to Pramod Talukdar Memorial Trust under Monalisa Society in Beltola.
The Mother old age home, a well-known refuge home for the elderly in the city, was founded on June 21, 2012, by Utpal Harshavardhan and Monica Sarma.
Both had been strong pillars of the old age home, but owing to a conflict between the two founder members, the lives of all the elderly people living at the shelter home have become uncertain within a week. According to reports, Utpal Harshavardhan purportedly stated in a social media post that he had no concerns with his co-founder Monica Sharma and so decided to leave the shelter home.
He said, "I have already replied whatever allegations were put against me by Monica and I will keep doing that. I will be there for all kinds of query regarding Mother old home." Utpal further voiced his dissatisfaction with media reports saying that the ashram (old age home) will be taken over by either an organisation headquartered in Guwahati's Sijubari or the government. "Though the ashram is an organization, but, it's a house full of emotion, peace and dignity. Our main duty is to serve the elders as well as to respect their thoughts," added Utpal.
Meanwhile, the continuous conflict between the two founding members had caused psychological discomfort among the elderly. Several senior citizens living at the shelter home have not eaten properly in the previous several days, according to one of the caregivers at the mother old age home. "We cannot reside in such conditions where police and media persons come to disturb us. There is no more peace in this environment, thus, we have decided to shift with Utpal," said one of the senior citizen.
