Malnutrition deaths in Orissa;Congress demands Central team

Bhubaneswar, Aug 13 (UNI) Concerned over largescale death of children, particularly the tribals in many parts of Orissa due to malnutrition and hunger, the Opposition Congress today demanded that a Central team visit the affected areas for an on the spot probe.

Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee(OPCC) president Jayadev Jena told newspersons here that a Congress delegation, led by him, had recently visited the Lunagadia village where 13 children had died due to malnutrition.

He alleged that the tribals in the village in the absence of any job to eke out their living were eating raw mushroom, collected from the forest. At least 40 children in the village, Mr Jena said, were still struggling with their lives.

The Orissa Congress Chief said last year also 12 children died of malnutrition and hunger in Dingripal village under Jharigaion block in Nabarangour district, while 21 children in Simlipal also succumbed to malnutrition and 12 children died in Dasmantpur block of Koraput district.

But the state government had not taken any step so far to check such largescale malnutrition death, Mr Jena alleged and said a high level Congress delegation would soon visit New Delhi to apprise Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Union Child Development Minister Renuka Choudhary about the ''failure'' of the state government to protect the lives of the children.

Mr Jena said the delegation would urge the Prime Minister to depute a Central team to visit the state and probe the deaths due to malnutrition.

He said the Centre had sanctioned Rs 1200 crore under the National Rural Health Mission but the government had failed to utilise the fund properly as a result crores of rupees were returned as unspent.

UNI