M A I N   N E W S

Wheat in Atta-Dal Scheme not edible: Punjab lab
Balwant Garg
Tribune News Service

They had consumed rotis made from the wheat supplied by the state government under its populist atta-dal scheme. Besides submitting a complaint to the deputy commissioner and civil surgeon alleging that the wheat distributed in the village was emitting a foul smell, a poor farmer had spread a packet of ‘rotis’ prepared from “poor” quality wheat in front of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on March 19 during a political rally in Faridkot.

Caught in an embarrassing position, Badal had directed health department authorities to examine the wheat. The state laboratory has detected the presence of rodent droppings, excess humidity with increased microbial and fungal growth, discoloured, broken and worm-infested wheat. “We have received the report from the State Food and Drug Laboratory and it will be sent to the food and supplies department and the state government,” said Dr Surinder Kumar, Civil Surgeon, Faridkot.

Sources said that health department officials and SDM Faridkot, during their visit to an open plinth godown on Bholuwala Road in Faridkot to collect the samples, were shocked to see uncovered wheat bags lying in the open, braving rain and sunlight. The quality of wheat was visibly very poor and it was ridden with fungal and microbial growth.

Though the villagers had stopped using the wheat after many consumers had to be hospitalised, the distribution of the wheat continued in the village even after the model code of conduct came into force, alleged Gurdev Kaur, Baljit Kaur and Harjinder Kaur who underwent treatment at the hospital last month.

Jaspreet Singh Kahlon, District Food and Supplies Controller, said his department was yet to receive the report from the State Food and Drugs Laboratory. 

3 of family hospitalised

Faridkot: Three members of a family in Jaitu town of Faridkot were rushed to the civil hospital after they complained of diarrhoea and vomiting. In his statement to the police, Resham Singh said that he, his wife Kuldeep Kaur and son Gurpreet Singh fell ill after eating rotis, made of wheat supplied under the atta-dal scheme, on Wednesday morning.