New Delhi : The Congress on Monday asked the government if it had decided to lift 55-year old ban on use of “khesari dal”, saying it had been established that consumption of the pulse leads to “latyrism” or paralysis of lower limbs.
“Far from bringing down the prices of pulses, the government, as media reports suggest, has decided to lift the 55-year ban on the deadly khesari dal. All of us grew up reading in our text books that its consumption causes lakwa (paralysis),” Congress spokesperson R.P.N. Singh said here.
“If the government has taken a step as detrimental to the health of people as lifting a ban on khesari dal, why haven’t the people of the country been informed? Why are we coming to know of this through RTI applications and media investigations?” he asked.
Asking if the government had undertaken due diligence with ample research, scientific evidence and public consultations with all stake holders before taking this decision, and if safeguards been put in place, Singh said the government had not been able to live to its promise of “yellow revolution” and “protein revolution”.
A report in The Indian Express had said that a research panel headed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has cleared the consumption of the long-banned pulse.