Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Chapter of Right to Food Campaign (RFC), Monday, brought serious allegations regarding supply of rotten and contaminated food items to the innocent children at the Anganwadi Centre (AWC) in Malkangiri under the Integrated Child Development scheme.
Interestingly, the state government’s Food Testing Laboratory, after examination, found the food samples collected from the AWCs to be rotten and contaminated.
The team of RFC collected the samples from the AWCs during a field visit in the remote areas like Chitrakonda block and Bonda Hills in Khairaput block from November 10 to 12, 2019.
The team collected sample packets of parboiled rice, Suji Halwa, Sattu and Badam (peanut) laddoo. They sent the samples to the state food testing laboratory in the office of the Deputy Director-cum-Food Analyst for testing November 15, 2019.
The RFC team received the test report, January 20. As per the report, the parboiled rice sample was ‘unsafe’ for human consumption under section 3.1 of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 due to ‘off odour and infestation’.
Similarly, the Sattu and Badam laddoo samples were found to be unsafe for use as the food emitted bad odour due to contamination or rotting.
However, the Suji halwa collected from the AWCs was found safe for consumption.
This apart, the team also witnessed irregular supply of sattu, rice and eggs to the malnourished children in the remote areas. The team which weighed the packets and found that the packets carry much less quantity of food as mentioned on its covers.
The RFC Odisha chapter demanded stern action against the Women SHGs and other organisations for supplying low-quality foot items in fewer amounts to Malkangiri. The body alleged that ‘lack of proper monitoring by the authorities is the biggest obstacle in effective implementation of ICDS in the district.