Dead lizard found in Indian ration food packet

Members present at the general body meeting of the Nashik zilla parishad (ZP) held on Thursday were stunned by the fact that a take home ration (THR) packet meant for malnourished children had a dead lizard inside. Prakash Wadje, ZP member from Dindori, raised the issue and demanded an immediate recall of food packets, blacklisting of the food supplier, and immediate repatriation of the deputy chief executive officer, women and child welfare committee.



A woman from Eklahara village in Dindori taluka, Hemlata Pawar, received THR packets, meant for malnourished children and family members including lactating mothers and girls attaining puberty in rural areas, from an anganwadi in the village. "As I opened the last of the six packets to prepare food for my three-year-old son on Wednesday, the dead lizard fell into the pan with the food. I was shocked. I called my neighbours and showed it to them," Pawar said while narrating the incident to ZP president Jayashree Pawar and chief executive officer, Ranjit Kumar.

Raising the issue in the House, Wadje pointed out the apathy of officials towards the issue, as none of the officials reached the spot till 10am on Thursday despite having been informed about the same. Further, the clarification by the deputy chief executive officer of the committee, Anamika Ingole, that prima facie it appeared that the packet delivered in May might have been left open and accidentaly a lizard from the house might have entered the packet, raised many eyebrows and objections, with the House immediately demanding her repatriation to her parent department.


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The ZP president was quick to adopt a resolution saying that the officer has not been cooperating with the members many times. "Since the past four months, there have been complaints against the officer and the current situation only warranted her repatriation," Jayashree Pawar said. Taking note of the situation, the chief executive officer said that the samples have been sealed and sent for further investigations. Also, an inquiry would be conducted into the same, show-cause notices would be sent to all officials concerned and action would be taken accordingly.