A group of civil society groups, espousing the cause of right to food for disadvantaged and weaker sections, on Friday alleged that a 70-year-old from a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) in Odisha’s Jajpur district died of hunger after denial of ration to him by the government agencies.
A joint probe by the Scheduled Tribes & Scheduled Caste Development Department and District Administration, under supervision of the Odisha Human Rights Commission, needs to be conducted into the alleged starvation death to fix responsibility for the tragic demise of the poor PVTG settler, a confederation of civil society groups — Right to Food Campaign, Jana Swasthya Abhiyan, Civil Society Forum for Human Rights stated.
The campaigners further demanded that the state government should provide an ex gratia compensation to the family of the deceased as per National Human Rights Commission guidelines.
Acting on reports of Risa Mankadia, an elderly man belonging to the Mankadia community, a PVTG dying of starvation on 21 October, a fact-finding team comprising food rights activists visited Mankadia Sahi under Ransol Panchayat in Sukinda Block and found veracity of the report, said Sameet Panda, an activist.
It was found that the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) ration card — his only source of food — was cancelled, possibly due to non-completion of eKYC. Deprived of food grains for months, he reportedly became weak and ill before dying on 21 October. No post-mortem or official inquiry had been conducted into the death, he further stated.
Risa’s living conditions were inhuman, and his prolonged hunger was the direct outcome of Aadhaar-linked exclusion from the Public Distribution System (PDS), he charged.
His ration card was deactivated without notice, violating the Odisha High Court’s ruling, which prohibits denial of rations for want of Aadhaar.
Local officials were aware of his vulnerability but failed to ensure his access to food, pension, or housing support.
The Odisha Relief Code, which mandates a Tahsildar-level inquiry within 48 hours of a reported starvation death, was not followed; no official had visited the site till the team’s inquiry, the activists pointed out.
The Mankadia hamlet with 110 households remains deeply deprived — no MGNREGA work for years, incomplete Aadhaar enrolment of children, and stalled housing under the Mankadia Development Project.
All PVTG households should be issued AAY cards immediately, with ration delivery exempted from eKYC barriers. The Block Development Officer and Welfare Extension Officer must conduct monthly verification of PVTG households, revive MGNREGA work, and ensure quarterly progress reviews by Odisha Human Rights Commission.
The death of Risa Mankadia represents a systemic failure in implementing food and social protection laws, worsened by technological exclusion and administrative neglect. The incident underscores the urgent need for accountability, restoration of entitlements, and a humane, rights-based approach to ensure that no person in Odisha especially among PVTGs dies of hunger in the 21st century, the rights activists concluded.