Stepping up its attack on the ruling BJD and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for paltry financial assistance for the families of the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) victims in Malkangiri, the Congress staged road blockades at all district headquarters across the State demanding a Rs 12-lakh compensation on Monday.
Party activists held rallies and road blockades for two hours from 10 am to 12 noon at all district headquarters.
Vehicular movement came to a standstill between Koraput and Nabarangpur when Congress activists blocked the road at the Koraput district headquarters traffic square. Many vehicles were stranded on both sides of the road. Pottangi MlA Ramachandra Kadam and laxmipur MlA Kailash Kulasika led the protest.
PCC president Prasad Harichandan also joined the protest in Bhubaneswar.
“The State Government has tweaked with the number of JE deaths in Malkangiri district. While unofficially the number has touched nearly 500, it put the figure at 103. From this, it is evident that the Government wants to show minimum death cases to pay less compensation,” Harichandan stated.
He questioned the timing of the announcement of Rs 3 lakh ex-gratia just before the panchayat polls.
Meanwhile on the day, PCC vice-president Pradip Majhi and others of the party ended their six-day hunger strike here after submitting a memorandum to Governor SC Jamir over the issue. Majhi along with five others, including MlA MlA Krushna Chandra Sagaria, was on a hunger strike in front of the Raj Bhavan demanding compensation of Rs 12 lakh each to the families whose children died due to JE and fulfilment of 55 doctors’ posts at the hospitals in Malkangiri district.