Villagers In Odisha's Koraput Allege Sale of 'Plastic Rice' In Local Market

Residents of Maliguda village in Koraput district have alleged that 'plastic rice' is being sold in the local market.

As per reports, some villagers claimed that the rice they bought from the market was different from normal grains. Some of the grains were floating in the hot water while cooking. Those were taking a lot of time to be boiled. They claimed it could be ‘plastic rice'.

"My children bought a packet of rice from the village market. But to our bewilderment, some of the grains were found to be different from normal grains.  Those were very sticky and tasted different from the normal grains," said Judhistira Pujari, a villager.

However, president of the Koraput Chambers of Commerce S Ramesh sought to dismiss the suspicion of the villagers.

"We are getting supply from Raipur, Andhra Pradesh, Nagpur and Gujarat. Local millers are also supplying rice to the market. But, we don't have any product like 'plastic rice' in our stock," claimed Ramesh.

"After receiving the complaint, we found that it was not plastic rice rather 'fortified rice' which is protein and nutrient-rich. There are instructions from the Government of India to mix fortified rice with normal rice and sell the product in the market," he said.

On the other hand, District Supply Officer Pitabasa Panda said he was not aware of the incident.

"An inquiry into the incident will be launched and samples of the rice will be sent to the laboratory for verification," said Panda.