Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Srikant Jena on Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to dedicate one day to visit Mandipanka village in Kandhamal district of Odisha to witness firsthand the harsh realities of the tribal life there.
In a letter to Modi, Jena said: “In Mandipanka village, Kandhamal district, three young tribal women lost their lives, and several others were hospitalised after consuming mango kernels. This desperate act was due to acute food scarcity in the region, a direct result of a complete collapse of food grain distribution under the public distribution system.”
Stating that this was a violation of the National Food Security Act, Jena said: “As the October-December food grain quota was released only on November 2 and the delay of over a month, forced families in this impoverished area to consume mango kernels.”
Jena said the situation had further worsened with the lack of basic healthcare, no mobile connectivity and a completely dysfunctional medical facility.
