BHUBANESWAR: A day after the launching of Odisha’s own food security scheme for poor people left out of National Food Security Act (NFSA), Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday dared the State Government to put the names of the beneficiaries in public domain.
Criticising the ruling BJD for frequently changing the number of poor families left out of NFSA, Pradhan said the State Government announced to cover 34.44 lakh people under its own scheme but actually extended the benefit to about 18 lakh people. “Irregularities in selection of beneficiaries under NFSA are still fresh in the mind of people. They have the right to know the beneficiaries covered under the State Food Security Scheme (SFSS),” he said.
Since Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is giving emphasis on transparency and use of technology under his 3Ts principles, Pradhan urged him to be more transparent on selection of beneficiaries. “There has been allegations that most of the additional beneficiaries are selected on the recommendations of BJD leaders and majority of them are either workers or supporters of the ruling party,” Pradhan said.The Union Minister urged Naveen to make the names of the additional beneficiaries public to dispel the doubt from the mind of people.
Noting that 3.26 crore of the State’s 4.19 crore population are covered under NFSA, Pradhan said the Centre finalised the number in consultation with Odisha Government. If the State’s claim of 34.44 lakh additional people being eligible to be covered under the scheme is true, why has the ruling party failed to extend its food security programme to all of them?” he wondered.By implementing SFSS, the CM has proved that he has been hoodwinking the people on his `1 per kg rice scheme, Pradhan added.