MUMBAI, 16 November 2007 — The Congress-led Democratic Front government in Maharashtra has agreed to withdraw the sale of red wheat from Australia saying it is unfit for human consumption.
The state government yesterday accepted that the wheat contained more uric acid than what has been the prescribed limit and that it was withdrawing the wheat from all shops in the state. Concerns over it appropriateness were raised by the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC).
K.P. Bakshi, the principal secretary for civil supplies, told the SHRC that the government had already withdrawn the wheat from various places. The SHRC had received a petition from senior BJP leader Kirit Somaiya alleging that sub-standard wheat was being distributed by the state.
Around 265 wheat samples were then tested in the laboratory of which 229 were found to be unfit for human consumption. SHRC Chairman Justice Khsitij Vyas then asked the state government to stop the distribution of red wheat in the state and replace the stock with local white wheat.
BJP leader Deepak Padwal said, “The commission’s order is a blessing for the millions of people living below the poverty line who were forced to consume sub-standard wheat.”
Meanwhile, Indian Police Service officers are not pleased with the state government’s decision to grant three months extension to the Director General of Police P.S. Pasricha and Mumbai Police Commissioner Dhananjay Jadhav.
A senior IPS official said that the government’s decision was unjust and unfair as this would hold up the promotions of several officers who were due to be promoted after the retirement of Pasricha and Jadhav.
