RANCHI: Ram Charan Munda, 65, allegedly died of starvation in Latehar district of Jharkhand on Thursday after being denied ration for three months because the Point of Sale machine, used for biometric-based ration delivery, was not working due to a network issue.
The district administration denied any such incident had taken place and said Munda died because of his addiction to drink. They claimed he had been discharged from hospital only two days ago.
However, villagers claimed that no food was cooked in Munda’s house for the last three days.
They alleged that the entire village had been denied ration for three months. The villagers said they had even complained about this to the district administration, but in vain.
“Munda lived with his wife and a daughter and used to work as a daily-wage labourer. He was not getting ration for three months. No food was cooked in his house for the last three days,” said Afsana Khatoon, who runs MGNREGA Seva Kendra in the block.
Sub-divisional officer Sudhir Das has rejected the charges.