Ganjam district administration has begun distributing Rs 2,500 in cash assistance and 50 kg of rice to 4.29 lakh flood-affected families after the Odisha government sanctioned more than Rs 107.44 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund. The relief operation began on Friday across panchayats, while local representatives and residents protested that several affected households had been left out.
Rice is being distributed through panchayat offices, while the cash assistance is being transferred directly to beneficiaries’ bank accounts. District chief civil supply officer Basant Kumar Panda said the administration had received 2.14 lakh quintals of rice in the first phase. The district will require 4.8 lakh quintals in total to complete the distribution.
The beneficiary list includes ration card-holding families and an additional 15% of families identified across the district’s nine blocks: Sorada, Dharakote, Sheragada, Purushottampur, Aska, Bhanjanagar, Ganjam, Chhatrapur and Sanakhemundi. Families in selected panchayats in Khallikote, Kabisurya Nagar, Rangeilunda, Kukudakhandi, Hinjili, Digapahandi and Patrapur have also been included.
Ganjam district collector Keerthi Vasan V has directed field-level officials to expedite the distribution, particularly among families identified as the worst affected. The use of direct benefit transfer for cash assistance is intended to move the financial component through the banking system, while the rice distribution is being handled locally through panchayat offices.
The relief process has also exposed a dispute over how the affected population has been defined. Several residents said their households had suffered due to rain and flooding but were not included in the list. N Damburu Reddy, a former zilla parishad member, said people across the district had been affected and urged the government to extend the benefits to all households.
The Ganjam district sarpanch association, led by its president Manoranjan Gouda, submitted a memorandum to the district collector on Friday seeking a review of the beneficiary list. The association also demanded that the entire district be treated as flood-affected for the purpose of relief distribution.
Several legislators from Ganjam raised the issue during a meeting with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi in Bhubaneswar on Thursday and urged the state government to expand the coverage. The administration’s current operation therefore involves two parallel tasks: delivering the sanctioned assistance to the identified families and responding to demands for a wider assessment of flood damage.
The immediate logistical challenge is the gap between rice already supplied and the quantity required for the full programme. With 2.14 lakh quintals available in the first phase against a total district requirement of 4.8 lakh quintals, further supplies will be needed as distribution continues. The next steps will depend on the field-level rollout, review of disputed exclusions and any decision by the state government on extending coverage beyond the existing list.
