A large number of people coming from around ten districts who have been excluded from the National Food Security Act (NFSA) illegally on Friday staged demonstration here at Mahatma Gandhi Marg.
“After a long delay of two years, the State Government started implementing NFSA by distributing digitised ration cards to poor and downtrodden. But hundreds of genuine households in many parts of the State have been excluded from the list,” said Pradip Pradhan of the Right to Food Campaign. The Right to Food Campaign and the Odisha Srmajibee Manch has organsied the agitation where aggrieved people of Malkangiri, Korpaut, Kandhamal, Boudh, Gajapati, Nayagarh, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh and many other districts participated.
Former Minister Panchanan Kanungo and senior journalist Rabi Das, among many others, addressed the gathering and blasted the Government for its failure in maintaining transparency in selecting beneficiaries.
They also demanded hike in the quantity of food grains per head and distribution of dal, sugar, oil and salt.