Click to play videoMumbai: A lab report of Mumbai rationing controller clearly stated that the imported red wheat being distributed under the public distribution system in Maharashtra is not fit for human consumption.
“The quality of imported wheat is so poor that the state government laboratory has declared that it is not for human consumption,” says BJP leader and RTI activist, Kirit Somaiya.
During tests, 229 of the 265 samples collected from PDS outlets in Mumbai were found unfit for consumption. A Pune lab had similar findings.
And the state government responded by issuing a directive to stop distribution of imported red wheat but to no avail.
“We had approached Human Right Commission to action immediately,” says Somaiya.
And that's not all, the entire import mechanism raises a lot of questions.
Surprisingly, the plan to import wheat was announced on March19 while the procurement season was still on.
CNN-IBN had first shown inferior quality of Australian red wheat being given to people in Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh.
The various gram panchayats are preparing affidavits as they plan to take the government to court through a PIL.
“We have people telling us that the Australian wheat is used for cattle- feed there. Many people from many villages have held their own gram Sabhas regarding this. The villages have made affidavits saying that they have been getting the read wheat,” says activist, Spandan, Prakash.
And now, with the BJP also planning to file a PIL in Bombay High Court, the Ministry of Agriculture will have to answer some uncomfortable questions.
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