Oram denies starvation deaths

By Prafulla Das

KASHIPUR (ORISSA), SEPT. 8. The Union Tribal Affairs Minister, Mr. Juel Oram, today said that nobody should play politics in the name of the poor tribals of the Kashipur block of Rayagada district and bring shame to the country.

Denying that anyone had died of starvation in this backward block, Mr. Oram strongly supported the State Government's stand that the 21 deaths reported from Kashipur since July last week were due to food poisoning and other diseases. He was talking to a small group of presspersons after visiting Pitajodi village of Kashipur this afternoon.

Observing that Kashipur had been an area of neglect in the past, Mr. Oram said the block was one of the 194 areas of the country that were covered under the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), and all measures would be taken to ensure development of the Kashipur tribals.

Expressing concern over the plight of the tribals, Mr. Oram pointed out that the situation would have been different in Kashipur now if the Rs. 60-crore Orissa Tribal Development Project would have been implemented in the block with sincerity.

Stating that Kashipur formed part of the KBK region, the Minister assured that the KBK special area programme would be given enough funds by the Centre for development.

Mr. Oram was the first Central Minister to visit Kashipur after the recent deaths of the tribals and the controversy whether the deaths were due to starvation.

After the women of Pitajodi complained before him that only 34 families out of 98 families had Below Poverty Line ration cards, Mr. Oram instructed the Rayagada Collector, Mr. Bishnupada Sethi, to issue BPL cards to all the poor families.

He became the first Minister to visit Pitajodi after four persons died in the village last month. As no car could reach Pitajodi in the absence of a proper road, Mr. Oram traversed the 3-km distance by covering one portion by a jeep, another portion as a pillion rider on a motorcycle and the last portion on foot. No Minister of the State or the Collector had visited Pitajodi after the deaths took place.

Several government officials, including Mr. Sethi, policemen and those from the media had to walk to Pitajodi. Mr. Sethi assured the villagers of proper road link from the main road near Gorakhpur.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : National
Previous : Sonia lashes out at Centre
Next     : CPI(M) to launch stir against Govt.