BHUBANESWAR: The Assembly on Wednesday witnessed noisy scenes with Opposition BJD and Congress members staging a walkout, dissatisfied with the reply of Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra to the adjournment motion brought by them on mango kernel deaths in Kandhamal district.
BJD member Ranendra Pratap Swain alleged that the tribal women consumed mango kernel gruel as they had no other food as government did not distribute rice to beneficiaries for four months. Alleging that such an incident occured because of government neglect, he demanded the resignation of the minister.
Holding the minister responsible for the deaths of tribal women, Byomakesh Ray (BJD) also demanded Patra’s resignation. Prafulla Chandra Pradhan (Congress) said mango kernel is not a traditional food of tribals. They were forced to eat mango kernel gruel as they did not have food to eat.
However, the minister rejected the Opposition allegation that the deaths occured due to starvation. Making a statement in response, Patra said the tribal women died because of food poisoning after consuming the gruel. The rumours of starvation were dispelled after a thorough investigation which confirmed that the affected families had adequate food supplies at the time.
The minister said officials visiting the homes of the victims found they had sufficient ration. Patra asserted that everyone was supplied ration. Besides, post-mortem reports confirmed the cause of death was food poisoning rather than starvation. He said efforts have been started to streamline the distribution process so that beneficiaries receive rice in time and the government has plans to open more ration centres in remote areas.
Information still being collected: Patra
Even as the state government came in for flak from Opposition BJD and Congress over mango kernel deaths in Kandhamal, Food Supply and Consumer Welfare minister Krushna Chandra Patra said the government was still collecting information on whether the dead were ration card-holders. In an unstarred question, BJD member Pradip Sahu sought to know whether e-verification of ration cards has been completed in Mandipanka village and how many persons were rejected in the process. He also asked whether the two tribal women who died after taking mango kernel gruel had ration cards. If they had, the member asked, what were the dates on which ration for September, October and November were issued to them. However, reply of the minister stated that information is still being collected.
