Mangaluru: A few days after reports surfaced that rotten rice was distributed to migrant labourers, Dakshina Kannada district Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh has clarified that the labour department distributed good quality rice and not rotten rice.
Speaking to the mediapersons on Friday, May 15, the DC informed that district administration has not received any complaints regarding any rotten rice being supplied by the labour department. “However, a probe will be conducted into the incident to reveal the truth,” she added.
It can be noted that a few days ago, it was reported that the labour department had supplied bags of rotten rice to the migrant labourers along with bags of good quality rice. The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) had brought this up with the district administration and were questioning whether they were dead or alive.
Apart from issuing this statement today, the district administration arranged for a reality check with officials and mediapersons on Friday evening and went to a godown of the Labour Department, located near KPT. When the bags of rice were opened in front of the press persons, only good quality rice was seen.
When contacted, DYFI state president Muneer Katipalla told Newskarnataka.com that the reality check is just for show. “We didn’t say the rice in the godown is rotten. Our complaint is about the rice distributed to the migrant labourers. A probe should be conducted in this regard and the officials who were involved in the distribution of rotten rice should be punished immediately,” he stressed.
Assistant Labour Commissioner Nagaraju, when contacted over phone, told Newskarnataka.com that the labour department distributes rice after ensuring that the quality is good. “The rotten rice distributed to migrant labourers does not belong to the labour department,” he said.
