More than 2,500 people from villages took out a rally under the aegis of Odisha Sramajeebee Mancha (OSM) here on Tuesday demanding formulation of Odisha Food and Nutrition Security Act, 2013 for sustaining the families in rural parts of the State.
The OSM convener, Anjan Pradhan, said that the State Government had claimed 100 per cent coverage in the KBK districts, but their survey showed that more than 1.5 lakh families across the State do not receive subsidised food.
The OSM conducted a survey in 47 blocks of the State and found that about 31,500 families in 13 blocks of Koraput district are not getting subsidised food under the Public Distribution System (PDS). The survey was conducted in 10 districts.
The members have demanded that the State Government should distribute 35 kg rice at `1, edible oil and iodised salt through its PDS channels and set up PDS centres in every village. The OSM core committee member, Arun Prasad Dihudi, said, “Most of the times, the data about an individual is not updated after one Below Poverty Line (BPL) survey is completed. If the subsidised food is distributed keeping in mind an entire family, people will receive adequate nutrition,” Dihudi said.
The OSM members met Food Supply and Consumer Welfare Minister Pratap Keshari Deb and submitted a memorandum.
They said that Deb has assured them to give priority to their demands.