Odisha MLA perturbed over Govt data on women consuming alcohol

Suranjan Mishra Published On : Jul 5, 2022 at 3:50 PM

Bhubaneswar: Senior BJD MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik today expressed his deep concern over the disparity in Government data on number of women consuming alcohol in the state.

During Zero Hour of Monsoon Session of Odisha Assembly, the Khandapada MLA said, “Government officials concerned have been providing varied figures on the number of women consuming alcohol in Odisha, which mismatch and contradict at times. It becomes difficult for a member of the House to establish on the floor as to who is lying. Is an MLA liar or the concerned Government official?”

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The officials must provide factual data and should not try to designate MLAs as liars, the legislator added.

As per National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted in 2015-16 , the number of women consuming alcohol in the country was 1.2 per cent and the figure has reached 1.3 per cent as of now. On the contrary, the number of women consuming alcohol in Odisha now stands at 4.3 per cent.

“With my limited knowledge in Mathematics, I am unable to make out whether this data implies a rise or denotes a decline. What to understand from the data, if the Government officials concerned would interpret it as a fall in the number of women consuming alcohol in the state. Would anybody make me understand, how the total number can be accepted to have diminished?,” Patnaik questioned drawing attention of Assembly Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha.

Besides, Patnaik also expressed concern over the conservation of water.

“We have been complaining against Chhattisgarh Government over Mahanadi river water, but have failed to conserve water of Mahanadi and other rivers in the state. In the absence of adequate provision for conservation, water of Kuakhai river goes to waste,” the senior MLA said appealing to the Speaker to direct the state Government to build a barrage over the river.

Seeking details of measures taken for conservation of water in and around the state capital, Patnaik said adequate conservation of water would help reduce temperature in the city.