Bhubaneswar: Acting swiftly after Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s order, Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) Southern Division, Roopa Roshan Sahoo on Wednesday began inquiry into the alleged death of two persons and medical complicacies among the villagers of Mandipanka village of Daringbadi block in Kandhamal district.
Shrimati Sahoo today visited the Kandhamal village and interacted with the family members, ward members, members of the community and civil society organisations along with Collector and other officials of Kandhamal district, to have a thorough enquiry into the alleged deaths.
The RDC also inspected the records of the Public Distribution System (PDS) at the large area multipurpose societies (LAMPS).
“As per Chief Minister’s instruction, I visited the village where two people died and some others are under treatment in hospitals. I held discussions with their family members. I inquired about the food they had consumed prior to the incident and health chronology, etc,” Sahoo told media persons in Kadhamal.
After completing preliminary inquiry, she left the village and said she will again visit the district to hold discussion with the district administration to find out whether all procedures were followed to provide services to them or now, the RDC said.
According to the order from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), the enquiry report is to be submitted after further perusal of the relevant information in seven days.
The alleged deaths occurred in the Kandhamal village, where two women reportedly died after consuming a gruel made from mango kernels. Six others fell seriously ill, with two were later transferred to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, as their conditions worsened.
On the other hand, politics hots up over the issue as the opposition BJD demanded resignation of Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra on moral ground.
BJD leader Lekhashree Samantsinghar alleged that the public distribution system has fully collapsed in the State for which the poor people have been deprived of getting rice.
The Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister should immediately resign on moral ground and all the officers starting from top to bottom, who are responsible for the deaths, should be taken into task, she demanded.
However, Shri Patra refuted the allegation and said “those seeking resignation have no moral right to demand it.” The Chief Minister has already ordered an RDC-level probe into the matter, he said.