COVID-19: PEOPLE NEED MORE DALS, EDIBLE OILS AND MOBILE VENDING SHOPS AT GPs DURING LOCK-DOWN

Odishabarta,Bureau

Bhubaneswar:Champa Mallick, a woman who resides in Gutaguda village of Kandhamal district was all praise for Mr Naveen Patnaik, as she received advance rations of 3 months and Rs. 1000/- as allowances as announced by the state government. However, she has urged if the Chief Minister would be kind enough to provide her with an additional amount of Dal, edible oil and spices which are essential grocery needed daily and especially during lockdown when they can’t come out of their houses.

While thousands of people like Champa Majhi of Mahila Shramajeebi Manch, Odisha applauded Odisha Chief Minister Mr Naveen Patnaik,through videos messages from their homes, for his proactive measures to tackle COVID 19 in the state, they also have urged him to consider additional amount of Dal, Edible Oil and other essentials to meet the daily needs as they cannot go out during the lockdown period.

The social media handles of Mahila Shramajeebi Manch, Odisha is being flooded with videos from the community across 17 tribal districts of the state and Bhubaneswar slums where people are thanking Mr Naveen Patnaik for his measures such as providing advance rations of 3 months, allowances of 4 months and many other facilities to help people in this distressing period. However, for many, rations provided are not sufficient, especially for households with more than 5 family members.

“We are with the state government and with the people of the state in this challenging time. However, as we are taking stocks of the ground in 17 tribal dominated districts and Bhubaneswar slums, where we operate, we witness that people are demanding more essentials. For them, especially for rural people and slum dwellers, the state government should provide 3 kgs of Dal, 2 kgs of edible oil and other essentials such as spices, potatoes and onions so that people do not have to move out of their houses during the lockdown,” says Ms Shanti Bhoi, President, Mahila Shramajeebi Manch, Odisha.

“Hot-cooked meals are being provided, mid-day-meal and Take Home Rations token system have also been being carried out successfully in most of the places. However, there is an urgent need of the facilities of a Mobile Vending Shop (MVS) in every Gram Panchayat which can move to all villages once or twice in a week so that people can buy essential items such as vegetables, milk, eggs, potatoes, onions during the lockdown period,” said Mr Anjan Pradhan, Convener of Odisha Shramajeebee Manch.

Due to the movement restrictions caused by the lockdown, members of Mahila Shramajeebi Manch, Odisha and Odisha Shramajeebee Manch have launched an online campaign to coordinate between the people and the state government to ensure that government benefits reach to the people and people’s issues and specific needs are addressed through social platforms.