Naveen blames Odisha govt for mango kernel deaths

Bhubaneswar: The BJD president, Naveen Patnaik, on Thursday held the Odisha government responsible for the deaths of two women, who lost their lives after consuming mango kernel gruel in Kandhamal district recently. The former chief minister claimed that the tribal women were forced to eat the gruel due to lack of adequate food at their homes. The BJP government, however, maintained that the women died of food poisoning.

“The State government has stopped the provision of rice for poor tribals. Therefore, they were forced to eat mango kernel gruel. Two people have died and others are undergoing treatment. This is very sad,” Patnaik said while addressing members of the party’s student wing at Sankha Bhawan, the BJD headquarters.

He expressed concern over the current government’s actions, claiming that it had “ruined” the efforts of the BJD administration which had ensured people received adequate grains.

Patnaik, who was the chief minister of Odisha from 2000 to 2024, emphasised that the BJD government had introduced the State’s own food security scheme for those who were not covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

“Now, the current government has ruined all those efforts and, as a result, people are forced to eat mango kernel gruel because they are not getting rice,” Patnaik said.

Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Krushna Chandra Patra rejected Patnaik’s allegations. He said, “as many as 16 people had died by eating mango kernel in Tikiri and Kashipur blocks of Rayagada district during the BJD government. Will Patnaik admit that these people died for not getting rice to eat?” The minister asserted that the medical reports confirmed that the casualties were due to “food poisoning” and not due to lack of rice.

Patra claimed that eating mango kernel gruel was part of the tribal population’s food habit. “The mango kernel does not impact their lives, but this time it was stale for 4/5 days and became poison,” the minister said.