Ranchi: An icy winter has claimed seven lives in Jharkhand - a state where over 100 people freeze to death every year - with the poor still waiting for state-sponsored blankets to ward off the chill.
Every year, the state supplies blankets to those living below the poverty line (BPL), but the distribution act is riddled with delays. This year, too, the government has invited interested parties - via newspaper tenders - to sell their blankets.
Nine firms participated in the bidding, which opened on Monday. Five bids were rejected and four selected. The selected parties' blanket samples have been sent to laboratories for tests of woollen content. The parties will be given orders only after the test reports are out.
"By the time we receive the blankets, it is already January and the winter is on its way out. The blankets hardly reach the needy on time and this causes deaths of hundreds of people during winter," said a government official.
As per the government plan, 1,000 blankets are handed to the state's 212 blocks where 52 percent of the population is BPL.
"Last year I received a blanket on Jan 9 when then chief minister Arjun Munda had distributed blankets. By then the winter had started receding," Gunjan Baitha, a rickshaw puller, said.
Sometimes the government goes in for a second tender if the quality or price of the blankets is not along the prescribed level. Then the blankets reach their target users only in February - when the winter is truly over.
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