Mamata Banerjee pulls up senior state govt officers on supply of dead chicken

Bolpur: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday publicly pulled up senior government officers and held them responsible for laxity in dealing with the supply of dead chicken preserved in formalin by businessmen to the city eatries.

The officials had suppressed information on the incident, she said adding the state cannot allow people to fall ill after consuming chicken preserved in formalin.

Ms Banerjee came down heavily on the principal secretary to the animal resources development department, Bhagwati Prasad Gopalika during an administrative review meeting here and sought explanation from him on why he had no information about the supply of dead chicken preserved in formalin from Baduria in North 24 Parganas district.

“You (Gopalika) have failed to carry out your responsibilities. You got the information four days after the incident was reported. Why have your officers including the district magistrate and the BDOs and th inspector in-charge (IC) of police failed to inform you before the incident took place? You have failed to pass on the message to us (government). That was wrong. Neither you nor the DM (carried out your responsibilites properly). You should have taken action of the matter immediately,” Ms Banerjee said.

The police had conducted raids at Baduria last week after sanitary inspector of Baduria municipality lodged a complaint alleging that dead chicken was supplied to eateries in Kolkata. There are 10,000 to 12,000 poultries at Baduria.

Food safety officials of Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s(KMC) health department had conducted surprise checks in eateries at Ultadanga and New Market areas of the city yesterday, a senior official said.

On finding dead chicken ready for supply in New Market area, KMC officials had immediately confiscated them and sent them to the laboratory for tests, he said adding the reports are expected early next week.

The chief minister directed Gopalika to seek explanation from the ICs and the BDOs who had failed to provide information about the incident and the reasons for it.

Questioning the roles of the DM, BDOs, ICs, officials of the panchayat departments on the matter, Banerjee said that all had suppressed information about this incident.

The chief minister said that the state cannot let hundreds fall ill by consuming dead chicken kept preserved in formalin.The situation is now under control and there is nothing to panic. 

“The government has taken action. If such matters are reported, municipalities, Kolkata Municipal Corporation will taken action,” she said and asked Gopalika to conduct tests on chicken and pay surprise visits to poultry farms.