Hitesh Kumar Bagarti questions in the assembly

Scheme flop cry in House
The Telegraph, Kolkata, June 18, 2009

Bhubaneswar, June 17: The Naveen Patnaik-led government drew flak from the Opposition in the Assembly today for alleged irregularities and deficiencies in the much-hyped Rs 2 per kg rice scheme in the backward KBK region, one of the poverty zones in the country.

Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh showed samples of what he called substandard rice being distributed under the Rs 2 per kg rice scheme.

The success of this scheme was a major contributing factor behind the resounding electoral victory of Naveen’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

Moving an adjournment motion, Opposition Congress and BJP members alleged that all the families living below the BPL line and above poverty line (APL) in eight districts of KBK were not receiving the Rs 2 per kg rice, despite government claims.

Only 40 per cent of APL families in the region were actually getting the subsidised rice and thousands of BPL families were being deprived, they charged.

On the other hand, well-off families after bagging BPL and APL cards were regularly availing the facility, said Hitesh Bagarti, a BJP legislator from Kalahandi.

The last survey of APL families was conducted in 1992 and the list has not been revised since then, they said. As a result of which, scores of APL families are being deprived of the scheme, said Congress members S.S. Saluja, Mamata Madhi and Bhujabal Majhi (all from the KBK region).

They demanded that a departmental minister visit the region to study the situation personally.

BJD members, on the other hand, dismissed all allegation as “baseless” and added that all beneficiaries were receiving the cheaper rice.

Members Niranjan Paujari, Rabi Narayan Nanda, Padmanabha Behera and Arabinda Dhali charged the Opposition of criticising the government unnecessarily.

Hailing the success of the scheme, treasury bench members said their party had received a massive mandate in the recent polls for this reason.

Food supplies and consumer welfare minister Sarada Prasad Nayak said funds to the tune of Rs 847.65 crore were being spent on the scheme every year and chief minister Naveen Patnaik was personally monitoring its implementation.

More than 37.94 lakh BPL families across the state and 5.80 lakh APL families in KBK region are now receiving rice at Rs 2 per kg, said the minister.