Woman died following illness, not due to starvation: Govt

A day after Odisha Assembly was disrupted over an alleged starvation death at a village in Balangir district, the state government today said the 55-year-old woman had died following prolonged illness.
Information received from the district collector showed that the death of Sua Dei Nag at Gutupalli village was not due to starvation but because of prolonged illness, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Bijayshree Routray said in a statement in the Assembly.
She died on December 7 and her last rites were performed the next day, he said adding Balangir Tehsildar and BDO have conducted a joint inquiry into the incident.

Stating that the widow had been suffering from paralysis for the last 8 to 9 years and was bed-ridden for last two years, the minister said her only son Kalindi Nag (35) had suddenly left the village along with his wife and three children and their whereabouts were not known.
While Sua Dei had 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, he said.
The deceased had been provided house under Indira Awas Yojana where she was residing, the minister said.

The State Assembly yesterday witnessed repeated adjournments following pandemonium by opposition Congress over allegation about starvation death of the woman.
Normalcy had returned after Speaker Niranjan Pujari directed the state government to give a statement on the matter in the House within 24 hours.