A report of the alleged starvation death of a person in Kalahandi district rocked the State Assembly on Monday even as it conducted most of the transactions normally.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra read out a report published in a vernacular newspaper and said the reported starvation death of Rankanidhi Khura of Balichhada village under Kalahandi district’s Junagada block is very shocking and, hence, the House should be informed about the incident.
“The local administration had the knowledge that a family of three, comprising Chandrabati Khura (70) and her two mentally retarded sons, Dayanidhi (42) and Rankanidhi (30), was living in a very poor condition. While the Kalahandi Collector claimed to have initiated efforts to provide support to the family, yet Rankanidhi died. If the matter is true, it is disastrouos. The Collector and the Chief Secretary are responsible as per a Supreme Court order,” said Mishra.
He demanded that the Speaker direct the Revenue Minister to submit a statement regarding the incident in the House.
BJP legislature Party leader KV Singh Deo, Congress MlA Tara Prasad Bahinipati and BJP MlA Rabinarayan Nayak too made the same demand. As Deputy Speaker Sananda Marandi didn’t pay any heed to their demand, members of both the parties trooped into the well of the House and started slogans against the Government.
Unable to run the proceedings, Marandi adjourned the House at 11.57 pm till 12.55 pm.
However, normalcy was restored when the House reassembled and other transactions were conducted normally.
Expenditure estimates of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment (Rs 4123,02,49,000) and Cooperation Department (Rs 1037,16,88,000) were discussed and passed.