Semiliguda: Death of an elderly woman due to hunger at Gunthaputa village under Semiliguda block in Koraput district Tuesday, has raised questions about the effectiveness of government’s food security scheme.
The woman is yet to be identified. According to the villagers, she was seen begging in the streets of Ghuntapada village but they were not sure whether she was from their locality or from some other area. Some local women said that the vagrant had been lying there for two days without taking food and water. Later, she had died of hunger.
There were instances of hunger deaths in this district. Locals said there is no relevance to government’s food security scheme as poor are suffering from hunger in this area. They have sought police help for performing the last rights of the deceased.
The shocking incident comes at a time when the government is providing cooked food to the poor at Rs 5 all across the state. Though the poor are benefited by the Central government’s National Food Security Scheme, it seems to have failed in some districts of the state.
It may be worth mentioning here that June 12 this year, a 68-year-old, Kunduru Nag, died of starvation at Khuntpali in Bargarh, reports said. Following her death, the district administration ordered an inquiry however an inquiry found that it was not a case of starvation death.
