Bhubaneswar: All India Mahila Congress President Alka Lamba on Wednesday slammed the Naveen Patnaik government for its failure to check the rising crime against women in Odisha.
“Every day, 7 women are being sexually assaulted and 4 among them are minor girls. Odisha tops the list in the country for crime against women. Cases of missing children are equally alarming. It is also the number 1 state in human trafficking and majority of the victims are women,” she told a presser, citing the National Crime Record.
Lamba further informed that Mahila Congress workers under the leadership of Meenakshi Bahinipati will visit every district and block to fight for social, economic and political justice of the women of the state. “More than 74% of women in the tribal districts of Odisha are suffering from anaemia. The wasting and stunting child birth is also very high in the state in comparison to the national average. A pregnant woman is still being carried on the cot to the hospital in the state,” she said.
She alleged that the government is using 73 lakh women SHGs for vote bank politics. “The tall claim of economic empowerment of SHG members is a blatant lie as their earning is only 17.67 paisa per day,” she said.
Lamb further said that the government is earning huge revenue from liquor sale. “In 2000, the earning from liquor was only 114.82 crore but since this regime came to power it has spiralled to Rs 6455 crore. In last 10 years, revenue from liquor sale has increased by 368%. Women are facing serious challenges because of the rise in liquor consumption,” she added.
Earlier in the day, Mahila Congress workers led by Lamba and Bahinipati engaged in a scuffle with police personnel when they were stopped during their march to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s residence to protest against “rising cases of violence” against women in the state.
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