Hubballi: The state goverment’s Anna Bhagya scheme which provides Rice at Re 1 to BPL card holders has often been criticized for its poor quality of food grain. But what the villagers of Alavandi village in Koppal district, takes the cake, or shall we say rats! On Saturday, they were horrifie to find dead rats, gutka sachets, mud, beedis, cow dung and gambling cards in the packets containing wheat after waiting in long queues for it. People were furious on seeing the contaminated foodgrains supplied by the fair price shop. About 40 people rushed back to the shop and showed everyone, including the shopkeeper, what they had got with their wheat.
Santosh K, a villager, said, “I took away 2 kg of wheat from the shop. When I went home and opened the wheat packet, I was shocked to see a dead rat in it. I also found other waste in the wheat.”
Nagaraj Gunnalli, another villager who received wheat, said, “When we emptied the wheat packet to clean the grain, we found a dead rat, gutka sachets and other dirty things in it. If we eat such grains, we will die. I was angry against the authorities for not providing clean food grains to the poor. Action should be taken against those responsible for it.”
The villagers were furious that the fair price shop owner refused to take the contaminated wheat back. “When we demanded that the shop owner replace it with quality wheat, he refused to do so saying he was helpless as he supplied the stock which he got from the Food Corporation of India,” they said.
YH Lambu, deputy director of food and civil supplies department, Koppal said that he had received information that substandard contaminated wheat had been supplied to the villagers on Saturday. “I have visited the village to inspect the shop and also met villagers to know their version. I’ve also made arrangements to supply fresh quality wheat and rice to Alavandi villagers. I assured them that such incidents will not happen again,” Lambu said.
He said when food grains arrived at the Karnataka food and civil supplies depot, people did not clean them properly before packing them into sacks.
“As a result, we have received three bags containing 50kg wheat that is contaminated. I have also warned of taking action against our taluk depot manager and district depot manager if they fail to clean all the food grains properly and pack them into clean bags before supplying them to fair price shops in the district.”
There are more than 1,700 BPL and Antodaya card holders in Alavandi villages. All have been asked to inform the officers concerned if they find any dirty particles in their food grains, he added.
