In Red-zone, govt issues food warning

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been telling people at various rallies that her government has been able to complete 90 per cent of the promised work in Maoist-affected Jungelmahal. But an internal government report junks the chief minister's claims to an extent that if the food-delivery system and the benefits of MNREGA in the three districts of West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura are not improved, a situation of starvation deaths could arise.

The report from Chief Secretary Sanjay Mitra to Food Secretary Anil Kumar Verma states that if work under MNREGA — the rural job guarantee scheme — at Jungelmahal is not improved, then the living condition of the people in the area could worsen.

The report — Brief Analysis of Survey Conducted in Left Wing Extremist Area of Bengal — states that compared to 2010-1,1 the number of beneficiaries receiving jobs under MNREGA is less in 2012. In 2010 -11, around 1.45 lakh families received jobs under the scheme in Jungelmahal area, whereas in 2012, only 41 thousand odd families got jobs. The condition has turned out to be so deplorable that job cards should be provided to every beneficiary, it states.

The report mentions that unless job cards can be provided to all the beneficiaries, BPL cardholders in Jungelmahal could die of starvation.

The report also talks about strengthening the public distribution system (PDS) in the three districts. "There is a need to set up mobile rationing shop in every block in Jungelmahal area so that people could get ration (subsidised food)," it added. The dealership procedure of rationing system has to be simplified so that more people can get ration cards in Jungelamahal area, says the report submitted to the food secretary on January 1.

It also mentioned that beneficiaries in the area who receive rice worth Rs 2 per kilogram sell it at higher price in the market and buy alcohol from the money. A senior official of the state government said the report emphasises on improving the delivery mechanism of PDS in the region as we have received complaints from various gram panchyatas that food supply through rationing system is irregular there. "The situation needs to be monitored carefully," the officer added.

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