The State Assembly on Thursday witnessed repeated adjournments as Opposition Congress kept hammering the Government over a 55-year-old woman’s death allegedly due to starvation in the drought-hit Balangir district. Normalcy returned in the House after the Speaker directed the Government to give a statement on the alleged starvation death case in the House within 24 hours.
The issue was raised by leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra of the Congress as soon as the Zero Hour began before noon.
"We demand a statement from the Revenue and Disaster Management Minister on the starvation death of a woman in drought-hit Balangir district," Mishra said. Stating that right to life is a fundamental right, Mishra alleged that Sua Dei of Gutupalli village under Balangir block of the district died due to starvation on December 8. The woman was alone at her house as other members of the family had migrated to other States in search of work due to acute drought conditions in the district, he said.
"I came to know about the incident from media reports and immediately sent a person to verify the allegation. I found that the allegation true as the woman died due to lack of food. Even a grain was not found in her house," Mishra said.
He said that though the woman had lifted rice from a PDS outlet as per the records, there was no grain in her house. She was so weak and unable to walk. Besides, she was not getting any pension or allowances.
He also alleged that the body was buried without conducting postmortem which could have proved that she died of starvation.
"Instead of admitting the fact, the district administration has been trying to suppress the matter and attempts are on to destroy evidences there in," Mishra said and demanded a direction from the Speaker to the Government.
As the Speaker did not issue any direction to the Government, the Congress members rushed to the Well of the House and staged agitation. They shouted slogans holding the Government responsible for the starvation death. While some opposition MlAs sat on the Assembly reporters’ table, Congress whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati grabbed the Speaker's mike and attempted to climb on to his podium.
Unable to run the House, Speaker Niranjan Pujari first adjourned the House till 12 noon and then till 12.10 pm.
When the House reassembled at 12.10 pm, BJP member KV Singh Deo also demanded a ruling from the Speaker seeking a statement from the Government. "The district administration has been trying to cover up the incident. Therefore, the Government should give a statement on the matter," he said.