COVID Relief: PDS Items Not Given To Non-Card Holders In 80 Places of 8 Districts In Odisha For 3 Months

Bhubaneswar: The non-card holders in 80 locations in the state have been deprived of PDS ration as part of COVID relief from April to June, no MGNREGA work allotted to people in 42 places and procurement of agriculture produce is yet to start in 44 places from June, according to data collected by a non-government organisation.

In order to address the traditional top-down approach towards data gathering and control, Partners in Change launched Community Led Local Entitlements & Claims Tracker, which is a community and worker-monitored COVID-19 accountability system that aims to document India’s poor and monitor the Rs 20 lakh crore government package for COVID relief.

The data was collected from 80 (73 rural and 7 urban) locations in 8 districts including Balangir, Baragarh, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Koraput, Rayagada and Sundargarh.

As per the data, non-card holders have not received dry ration as COVID relief in any of the locations between April and June while the registration process for eligible non-cardholder for ration cards was initiated in 20 locations as of June.

The registration for unorganised workers was not initiated in 45 locations. The registered unorganised workers were largely construction workers. Other workers were not even aware of the need to register themselves.

Children in 46 locations could not access education through online classes. Free books were not provided in 13 locations until June, the data revealed.

“The dues under MGNREGA pending before April have not been paid in 10 locations. In April, May and June, those who applied for work under the scheme didn’t get job in 37, 42 and 34 locations respectively,” the statement of the data said.

Of 72 locations where agricultural activities were undertaken, the government started procuring agriculture produce from farmers only in 30 locations.

The data, which can be accessed at www.communitycollect.info, is sourced by communities marginalised by caste, tribe, migrant status, religion, and dependence on informal and daily-wage livelihood.

Also Read: ‘Aadhaar Linkage To Pension To Deprive 11 Lakh Beneficiaries In Odisha’