Govt says woman didn't die of starvation, opp differs

The issue of 'starvation' death of a woman, that rocked the Assembly yesterday, cropped up again today as the government said she passed away following prolonged illness while the opposition maintained that she died of hunger.
The government quoted a report of the Balangir district collector saying the 55-year-old woman was paralytic for years, used to receive BPL benefits from PDS and was looked after by her neighbours.
Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra of Congress, however, rejected this statement and asked how she was collecting BPL rice from PDS outlets if she was paralytic.
The Assembly yesterday witnessed repeated adjournments following ruckus created by opposition Congress over allegation about starvation death of the woman. Speaker Niranjan Pujari had then directed the government to give a statement on the matter in the House within 24 hours.

In the statement today, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Bijayshree Routray said information received from the Balangir district collector showed that Sua Dei Nag of Gutupalli village died not due to starvation but because of prolonged illness.
The woman, a widow, was paralytic for the last 8 to 9 years and was bed-ridden for two years, Routray said adding her only son Kalindi Nag had left the village with his family and their whereabouts were not known, Routray said.
While Sua Dei received widow pension of Rs 300 till October 2015 and 25 kg BPL rice up to November 17 this year, she was being looked after by neighbours, the Minister said.