Bhubaneswar: The state Congress leadership Friday blamed the Biju Janata Dal (BJD)-led state government of providing the benefits of the Public Distribution System (PDS) to ‘ghost beneficiaries’ while many deserving poor are deprived of government assistance.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) President Niranjan Patnaik Friday claimed that the benefits of the PDS scheme are being misused in the state. He said, “The procedure of implementation of the scheme is dubious. Because of the callous attitude of the state government many ghost beneficiaries are availing major benefits, whereas the needy are left out.”
The OPCC President also claimed that the state Food Security Scheme launched by the Odisha government is nothing but vote bank politics. To buttress his claims, he said, “Last month the Food Commissioner of the state cited grave concerns saying that 2 lakh ghost beneficiaries in Odisha are receiving food grains under PDS. These people are already dead but due to the lack of proper checking, food grains are supplied every month in their name. But there are families who live in utter poverty and still are not included in Food Security Scheme.”
Patnaik also claimed that there is gross mismatch of data relating to PDS beneficiaries. “77 per cent of the total population of Odisha has been covered under Re 1/kg rice scheme of the state government. If this is true, 77 per cent of Odisha’s population should live Below Poverty Line (BPL) as per 2011 Census. But another government data says, as per 2011 Census the number of BPL families in Odisha declined to around 33 percent,” he said.
The OPCC President also alleged that schemes meant for the BPL families and families in distress fail to reach out to all the deserving candidates as no proper procedure is being followed by the state government to identify those who really need it. Patnaik also attacked the state over poor coverage of KALIA scheme.
PNN