Raipur, Mar 11 (PTI) The opposition BJP on Friday accused the Congress government in Chhattisgarh of snatching employment opportunities of women's self help groups by transferring the work of preparing ready-to-eat nutritional food from them to the state-run Seed Corporation and a private firm.

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BJP MLAs protested in the Assembly claiming this move was carried out to favour the private firm which has a contract with the Seed Corporation, while the state government said the decision was made as per Supreme Court guidelines in distribution of nutrient-rich food to women and children.

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Raising the issue in Question Hour, BJP MLAs Rajneesh Singh and Shivratan Sharma and others asked how many women SHGs were involved in manufacturing and distribution of ready-to-eat nutritional food under the anti-malnutrition programme, and also sought to know the criteria under which the Seed Corporation was given this work.

State Women and Child Development Minister Anila Bhendia said 1,605 SHGs with 16,655 women were performing distribution work under the 'Purak Poshan Aahaar' scheme, while the preparation of ready-to-eat meals will be done at a centralized location in a unit of the Chhattisgarh State Seed and Agriculture Development Corporation in Raigarh from April 1.

She said, for operating the unit, a joint venture entity called Chhattisgarh Agro Food Corporation Limited has been set up, with 26 per cent share of the Seed Corporation and 74 per cent being held by PBS Foods Private Limited.

Bhendia said the state government aims to provide hygienic nutrient-rich meals to beneficiaries as per SC guidelines.

Leader of Opposition Dharamlal Kaushik, Ajay Chandrakar and other BJP MLAs said women SHGs engaged in the task had procured machines by drawing loans for making ready-to-eat food and they would be unable to pay debts if the new system is introduced. They questioned why the state government was trying to snatch jobs of thousands of women.

The BJP also alleged corruption in a major share of the new entity being given to a private firm and demanded a probe into it.

Bhendia said there was no need for any probe as there were no irregularities in the project, which led to some protesting BJP MLAs to enter the Well of the House, leading to their automatic suspension. The suspension was revoked later.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)