Bhubaneswar: The Biju Janata Dal has lashed out at the Modi Government for discontinuing the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. Speaking at a press conference, BJD Spokesperson and Rajya Sabha Member Dr Sasmit Patra has said that it is very unfortunate that the Center has discontinued the scheme that was meant for the poor people. In Odisha about 3. 25 crore beneficiaries were getting 5 kg of rice under the NFSA scheme and another 5 kg was given under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. He said that, with this decision, not only the poor families of Odisha, but also farmers will be at loss by the discontinuation of this. As the scheme needed more rice to be purchased by the government from the farmers, it benefited them. Now, if the scheme closes, the paddy purchases by the government will stop and the farmers will be at loss as they can not sell at MSP. Therefore, farmers will be forced to sell rice at low prices to agents. It will economically hamper the farmers.
He said, the lives of people have not yet returned to normal after the Covid pandemic. And the decision will hurt them very much. Many families in Odisha were waiting to be included in the National Food Security Scheme, but they could not be included as the Central government is going with the old list. Even if Odisha wanted to add new beneficiaries, it couldn’t. It shows the Centre’s anti-Odisha, anti-poor and anti-farmer policies. Therefore, the BJD has demanded that the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana should start once again from this month.