Urgent Call to Action: Tribal Tragedy in Kandhamal

Former Union Minister Srikant Jena calls on Prime Minister Modi to visit Kandhamal's Mandipanka village, where three tribal women died due to food scarcity. Alleging Public Distribution System failures, Jena demands urgent governmental attention and action. The administration's delayed response highlights systemic neglect of tribal communities.

Former Union minister and senior Congress leader Srikant Jena has called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Mandipanka village in Odisha's Kandhamal district, where three tribal women tragically died after consuming mango kernel gruel amidst alleged food scarcity.

Prime Minister Modi, currently on a three-day tour of Odisha to attend the All India DGP/IGP Conference, is urged to divert his attention to the pressing issues faced by tribal communities in the region. Jena, who led a Congress fact-finding team to the affected village, highlighted the severe neglect and urged immediate intervention.

Jena's appeal underscored the critical failures in the Public Distribution System, attributing the tragic deaths to a delay in foodgrain distribution. Furthermore, he pointed out that MGNREGA implementation lapses have caused youth migration, showcasing the systemic issues plaguing the area.

(With inputs from agencies.)