Bihar’s rats feast on food meant for poor

Grain stored in warehouses meant for people living below poverty line destroyed by rodents

Rats have been eating food being stored for the poor in Bihar, leaving the poverty-stricken class virtually starving. According to a latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India which was tabled in the state assembly on Monday, rodents have eaten around 3,000 quintals of food-grains stored in government’s warehouses in 2010-11.

These food-grains meant for the people below poverty line (BPL) families were stored in various warehouses of state food corporations located in Darbhanga, Begusarai, Muzaffarpur and Nawada districts but their poor packaging allowed the rats to feast on them. The destroyed grains which include rice and wheat are distributed among 12,000 BPL families. The state has a total of around 14 million BPL families.

Describing it as a very serious issue, the CAG has recommended for realising the cost of the destroyed foodgrains from the SFC employees. The report further said that foodgrains worth over billions of rupees were destroyed as the authori- ties do not lift distribute them among the poor.

The prevailing rat menace in Bihar has been proving costlier for the state economy but the authorities are yet to initiate any steps to contain the problem.

In 2008, the authorities had come out with a unique idea of featuring rat meat it in the menus of city’s prominent hotels, restaurants and road-side eateries in a bid to contain the rodent population.