Bhubaneswar, Aug. 30: Union minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers Srikant Jena today aimed yet another blow at chief minister Naveen Patnaik accusing his government of mismanagement of the subsidised food grains provided by the Centre resulting in a loss to the targeted beneficiaries.

In a letter to the chief minister, Jena said at a review meeting of the Centre’s 20-point programme at Bhubaneswar recently he was informed that the state government was supplying 25kg of food grains per month to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families and those included under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) whereas the Centre was providing 35kg of food grains for each of these families.

“It is extremely shocking to know that poor and needy AAY and BPL families of Odisha are being supplied only 25kg of food grains per family. It implies that by giving 10kg less food grain from the monthly requirement of the BPL families in Odisha, not only the families are being deprived of their rightful quantities but is also resulting in an annual loss of approximately Rs 700 crore towards the subsidy paid by the central government,” wrote Jena.

The Union minister, who has earlier locked horns with the state government over several other issues, asked the chief minister to explain where the food grains being supplied by the Centre were going if they were not reaching the beneficiaries. “In public interest, it needs to be answered that where has this highly subsidised food grain meant for the poor and needy AAY and BPL families which numbered 38.58 lakh has disappeared” he said and urged the chief minister to take corrective action immediately.

Admitting that the Centre was allocating 35kg of food grains for each beneficiary, state food and civil supplies minister Pratap Kesari Deb said the discrepancy that the Union minister was talking about was on account of the fact that Odisha was catering to the needs of 42 lakh PDS beneficiaries though the Centre was providing grains only for 32 lakh. “The Centre has refused to accept our estimate of 42 lakh BPL families existing in the state but we continue to provide subsidised grains to the surplus families as well,” he said.