The Assembly

Bhubaneswar, April 8: The Assembly today witnessed an uproar over the Orissa government’s failure to provide subsidised rice to families living above the poverty line in the backward Koraput-Balangir-Kalahandi (KBK) districts.

Even the Opposition moved a privilege notice against the food and civil supplies minister Sarada Prasad Nayak for misleading the House on the issue.

Raising the issue during zero hour, Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh said the BJD had promised in its election manifesto that it would provide Rs 2 per kg rice to both the BPL (below poverty line) and APL (above poverty line) families living in the KBK region. After the 2009 elections, the government had also announced its decision to implement it.

However, ration cards had not been issued to thousands of APL families of KBK region, for which they were deprived of subsidised rice, said Singh, who belongs to the KBK region.

Though the Centre has been providing subsidised rice and wheat for the beneficiaries, the allotted foodgrain stocks are being sold in the black market, he said.

The Opposition leader wanted to know the deadline by which APL cards would be issued to all the eligible beneficiaries and urged the Speaker to direct the Orissa government to implement its announcement.

Congress member Santosh Singh Saluja said the Centre was providing subsidised rice for 10 lakh APL families living in 80 blocks of the KBK region. However, the state food supplies department officials were selling these rice to mill owners and pocketing around Rs 360 crore per annum, he said and demanded a high-level probe into the scam.

Stating that the food supplies minister has been giving contradictory replies on the same issue at different times, Saluja moved a privilege notice against the minister.

Congress members Dambarudhar Ulaka, Rama Chandra Kadam and Bhujabal Majhi also shared their concern and demanded immediate issue of ration cards to all the APL families living in the KBK region.

Supporting the demand, BJP legislature party leader K.V. Singhdeo said the residents of Bhainsa village under his Patnagarh Assembly constituency had been staging dharna for the past 15 days on the issue.

Moving another privilege notice against the minister, the BJP leader said the minister had announced that the storage agent system would be abolished from Orissa from April 1 this year. However, the announcement had not been implemented and storage agent system was extended for six months.