BJP labels Odisha's food security scheme 'politically motivated'

Bhubaneswar: Odisha unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday slammed the ruling-Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for announcing its own food security scheme at a time when the general elections are round the corner and labelled it as a move guided by political interests.

Addressing a presser at the party headquarters here today, State BJP vice president Samir Mohanty alleged that the sole motive of the BJD government behind announcing its own food security scheme is to woo voters.

"The State government's food security scheme is guided by politics and not by the interest of the people of Odisha. Over 3.28 lakh beneficiaries are yet to be covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and even the State food commission has written to the supplies department in this matter," Mohanty said, adding that the BJD is blatantly cheating people in the name of new schemes.

In reaction to BJP's allegations, BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb said, "The question that the BJP has raised about NFSA shows the helplessness of the saffron party in Odisha. BJD's food security scheme is not politically motivated rather the BJP is scared as it never thought that the Naveen Patnaik government will come up with its own scheme and include 17 lakh more people."

"While the BJP is talking about only 3 lakh people, we are concerned about 20 lakh people of Odisha," he further said.

The Odisha government came up with its own food security scheme in July this year to cover beneficiaries who have allegedly been left out under the NFSA.