Bhubaneswar, Nov 27 (PTI) Opposition BJD and Congress MLAs staged a walkout from the Odisha Assembly on Wednesday alleging the collapse of public distribution system which they claimed led to the deaths of three tribal women after consuming mango kernel gruel "due to scarcity" of foodgrains.

The issue of people at Mandipanka village in Kandhamal district consuming mango kernel gruel allegedly due to food scarcity was discussed in the House through a notice for an adjournment motion.

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The opposition BJD held the state government responsible for deaths of three women and people "starving" after not receiving supply of foodgrains on time.

Both the BJD and Congress members alleged that the people were forced to consume mango kernel gruel as they could not get foodgrains under the PDS in October.

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However, Odisha's Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister KC Patra dismissed the allegation and claimed that the three tribal women of Mandipanka died due to food poisoning and not due to lack of food.

Patra, however, said that the deceased women had consumed the mango kernel gruel which was contaminated.

"They ate mango kernel along with rice. The government had made all provisions of food for the people of Mandipanka village," the minister claimed.

The minister also dismissed the allegation of starvation and claimed that subsequent investigation confirmed that the affected families had adequate food supplies at the time of the fatal mishap.

The minister, accused the opposition parties of making it a major issue. "During the BJD rule, people died after eating contaminated mango kernel gruel in certain areas in 2001 and 2018," the minister said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)