Centre evicts 90-year-old Padmi Shri awardee Guru Mayadhar Raut from govt. accommodation

Move comes even as artists await court decision on their appeal against eviction

The Centre on Tuesday began eviction proceedings against 90-year-old Padma Shri awardee Odissi dancer Guru Mayadhar Raut, who was among eminent artists allotted government accommodation decades ago, which was cancelled in 2014.

After the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry issued notices to the artists to vacate the houses in 2020, a group of the allottees, including the late Birju Maharaj, had moved court.

Madhumita Raut, an artist and daughter of Guru Mayadhar Raut, said the artists had lost their case against the eviction on February 25 and had time till April 25 to vacate the houses at the Asian Games Village here. She said the artists had filed an appeal in the Delhi High Court, which was scheduled to be heard on Wednesday morning.

“The Directorate of Estates knew our appeal was to be heard on Wednesday so they came with their staff and police to forcibly throw out our belongings on Tuesday. They came at 1 p.m. and I was serving lunch to my father. I appealed to them to allow my father to eat but they did not allow it,” she said.

Ms. Raut said she was in the process of emptying out the house on Wednesday and moving her father to a student’s house as a temporary measure while awaiting the court’s decision. The house was allotted to her father over 25 years ago, she said.

“I don’t mind if they evict, but the way in which it was done was inhumane. The houses were allotted to artists who work with the guru-shishya tradition and don’t care for commercial interests. Isn’t it the government’s responsibility to take care of Padma awardees?” she said.