Much to the surprise of many the list of farmers who have availed mobile phones was not available with the State Government though more than twenty months have been elapsed into the distribution. Furthermore, though the State Government has announced to provide 20,000 mobile phones to farmers in 2013, it has only provided 18,000 mobiles so far, an RTI query has revealed.
According to the information, while Rs 1,99,98,000 has been spent for purchasing 18,000 Nokia mobiles on three different days, of Rs. 23,21,965.00 was spent for organising ceremony in Bhubaneswar for distribution of mobile phones to farmers by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
The RTI query filed by rights activist Pradip Pradhan further revealed that Angul Regional Marketing Committees (RMCs) has been provided 199 mobiles received, followed by 1,202 to Baleswar RMC, 851 to Baragarh, 828 to Bhadrak, 782 to Balangir, 363 to Boudh, 670 to Dhenkanal, 152 to Deogarh, 1079 to Ganjam, 144 to Gajapati, 983 to Jajpur, 803 to Jagatsinghpur, 205 to Jharsuguda, 730 to Kalahandi, 381 to Kandhamal, 396 to Kendrapada, 747 to Keonjhar, 580 to Khordha, 401 to Koraput, 216 to Malkangiri, 1173 to Mayurbhanj, 343 to Nabarangpur, 595 to Nayagarh, 270 to Nuapada, 791 to Puri, 257 to Rayagada, 457 to Sambalpur, 324 to Sonepur and 1364 to Sundargarh RMC. Pradhan stated that RTI application will be submitted in district levels to get the name of the mobile phone beneficiaries.