Odisha Assembly adjourned till Monday

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Feb 7:

Speaker Niranjan Pujari today adjourned the Odisha Assembly till Monday after the debate on a motion of thanks on the Governor’s address.

Earlier, the Speaker Niranjan Puri had adjourned the House twice: first at 11.50 AM and later at its resumption at 12 Noon till 12.30 PM.

The House was first adjourned when Congress members, led by Opposition Chief Whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati, rushed into the well of the House and advanced towards the Speaker’s podium raising issues like distress sale of paddy by farmers as most of the procurement centres (mandis ) in Koraput remained closed.

The House was again adjourned for the second time during Zero Hour as Congress member from Jharsuguda Naba Das demanded a statement from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the murder of RTI activist Krupasindhu Sahu of Nacchigaan in Niali in Cuttack district.

As noisy scenes continued after the House reassembled at 12.30 PM, the Speaker issued a ruling asking the Chief Minister to give a statement on the murder of Sahu in the House on February 9.

Currently, the House is debating the Governor’s address yesterday to adopt a motion of thanks on it.

However, the first Question Hour of the Odisha Assembly in its ongoing budget session today went off peacefully with no disruptions unlike the last session.

During Question Hour, members across party lines expressed concern over the delay in implementation of National Food Security Act in the state. Minister Food Supply and Consumer Welfare Sanjay Das Burma responded by informing the House that the scheme will be operational in the state in September this year. Due to some problems in the identification of beneficiaries, its implementation has been delayed.

The minister said 3, 26, 41, 800 beneficiaries will benefit under the scheme and preparation of a dynamic database for the purpose was underway.

Raising a supplementary, BJD member Amar Satpathy  asked the minister what were the criteria laid down for selection of beneficiaries under the scheme and what measures have been taken by the government for selection of appropriate/genuine  beneficiaries and whether there were any provisions for inclusion of earlier schemes like Antodaya and Annapurna within it.

Athagarh BJD MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain asked the minister what steps the government was taking to prevent the benefits landing in the hands of people who do not deserve it as most adivasi BPL card holders are illiterate and not familiar with reading and writing.

Congress member from Jharsuguda Naba Das wanted a clarification from the minister whether the scheme will be transparent one free from irregularities.

Opposition Chief Whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati sought a reply from the minister to specify the date from which the government was going to hand over cards to the citizens under the NFS Act passed during the Congress led UPA government at the Centre. He suggested the appointment of a nodal officer at each panchayat for successful implementation of the Act.

Raising a supplementary, BJP state president and MLA from Patnagarh KV Singhdeo wanted to know from the minister;” If this is a Central government scheme, can the state government change the guidelines of the scheme? Has the Central government provided for filling up of three forms by the ASHA karmis and angaanwadi workers? If not, the minister may kindly specify on what basis you have come out with a parallel scheme with that of the Central government scheme.” Singhdeo sought a copy of the Central guidelines for implementation of the scheme for each member of the House.

On the basis of the high level committee’s recommendations to the state government and its subsequent approval by the Cabinet, the database is being prepared, it is dynamic and has auto inclusion and auto exclusion provisions in it. Every account worth considering has been taken care of, said Dasburma allaying apprehensions of members and said that there is scope at all levels for its scrutiny and update of data.