Bhubaneswar: BJD president Naveen Patnaik Thursday held the Odisha government responsible for the deaths of two tribal women, who lost their lives after consuming mango kernel gruel in Kandhamal district recently.
The former chief minister said the women were forced to eat the gruel allegedly due to lack of adequate food at their homes and blamed the BJP government in the state for halting the provision of rice to poor tribal families.
“The state government has stopped the provision of rice for poor tribals. Therefore, they were forced to eat mango kernel gruel. Two people have died and others are undergoing treatment. This is very sad,” Patnaik said while addressing members of party’s students wing at Sankha Bhawan, the BJD headquarters.
He expressed concern over the current government’s actions, alleging that it had “ruined” the efforts of his (BJD) government, which had previously ensured people received adequate grains.
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Patnaik emphasised that the BJD government had introduced the state’s own food security scheme for those who were not covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
“When our government was in power, people were getting adequate grains. We had introduced a food security scheme for those not covered under the NFSA. Now, the current government has ruined all those efforts, and as a result, people are forced to eat mango kernel gruel because they’re not getting rice,” Patnaik said.
He called on the youth and student wings of the party to counter the “anti-propaganda” from rivals on social media.
PTI
