Absolute, ravaging hunger has driven slum dwellers in Odisha to dig up wastedfood grain by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and eat it for theirsurvival. The 1,206 bags of PDS rice belonging to the FCI were supposed to feedempty stomachs. Instead, they lay rotting in Cuttack's railway goods shed forthe last nine months, stuck in a red-tape tussle between the railways and theFCI over storage issues.
Finally on Wednesday, the Railways buried the 1,206 bags of rice near Cuttack.
Surprisingly, a significant amount of the rice was apparently in good conditionand though the poor locals pleaded the authorities, they were not allowed totake away the rice.
"We saw that the rice was in good condition. So we wanted to take it home.I don't understand why they dumped this rice here. They could have distributedit to us. When they were dumping it, we asked them to give it to us but theyrefused," said a local resident.
"There should be proper enquiry into this matter so that this does not getrepeated. When many people in the state sleep hungry every day, theseunfortunate incidents are happening. Those responsible should bepunished," another local resident said.
An FIR has been filed in Jagatsinghpur police station against the Railway authoritiesby two local leaders of Cuttack. The FCI has denied any accountability in thematter.
FCI manager Sanjay Padhi said, "We received the rice in damaged state in2011. So we rejected it and sent it to the Railways. The further course ofaction was taken by the Railways."
Locals have demanded a probe and strict action against the callous andapathetic attitude of the officials leading to such criminal wastage of foodgrain.