Bhubaneswar. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik on Thursday held the Odisha government responsible for the recent death of two tribal women after consuming mango kernel porridge in Kandhamal district. The former Chief Minister claimed that there was allegedly a lack of adequate food in the homes of these women due to which they were forced to eat porridge made from mango seeds.
However, the BJP government says that the women died due to food poisoning.
Addressing members of the party’s student wing at Shankh Bhawan, the BJD headquarters, Patnaik said, “The state government stopped giving rice to the poor tribals, so they were forced to eat porridge made from mango kernels.” (Due to this) two people have died and others are being treated. This is very sad.” He expressed concern over the actions of the present government and alleged that it had “ruined” his (BJD) government’s efforts to ensure adequate food grains for the people. Patnaik, who was the Chief Minister of Odisha from 2000 to 2024, stressed that the BJD government had launched the state’s own food security scheme for those who were not covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
Patnaik said, “The present government has sabotaged all those efforts and as a result, people are forced to eat mango kernel porridge because they are not getting rice.” Rejecting Patnaik’s allegations, Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister KC Patra said, “During the tenure of the BJD government, 16 people had died due to eating mango stones in Tikiri and Kashipur blocks of Rayagada district. Will Patnaik accept that these people died due to non-availability of rice?”
The minister said medical reports have confirmed that the deaths were not due to shortage of rice but due to “food poisoning”. Patra claimed that eating mango seed porridge is a part of the eating habits of the tribal society.
The minister said, “Eating mango seeds does not affect their life but in this case the porridge was stale for four-five days due to which it became poisonous.”