Skip to content Skip to navigation

Food poisoning strikes UN attention

Geneva March 10: Food poisoning is now a global phenomenon. But India has reasons to be worried where the country has been witnessing a series of incidents at regular intervals.

Foods in the country is far from being fresh and healthy where pesticides and chemical fertilizers are used to boost the production.

These are more or less of what a representative from India said at the ongoing UN Human Rights Conference in Geneva on Thursday. In his speech, Pankaj Jyoti Hazarika, who represented Prahar, a non governmental organization said Assam is one of the state where these incidents have been hitting media headlines.

“In the promotion of health and prevention of disease the role of nutrition food cannot be neglected but in India food becomes a major concern. Although the country men depend mainly on agriculture, Indian farmers vastly use pesticides and chemical fertilizers for more productivity on their agricultural farms,” said.

According to Hazarika, 351,000 people die of food poisoning every year worldwide. Largely use of pesticides is causing these kinds of tragic incidents. In Assam every year in August-September, many people have been suffering from food poisoning and many have lost their lives.

He said,"These months are very holistic months for the Assamese people and they take grams and cheek peas as Prasad. But unfortunately, every time this religious holy Prasad turns into poison resulting into death and illness for the Assamese.”

In recent past  in Assam, some 125 people fell ill after consuming prasad in Majuli. Victims included 57 females and 22 children over the age of seven. In an earlier incident in 2015, 3 people died while 530 people affected by food poisoning in two different incidents in Assam, said Hazarika.

Add new comment

Other Contents by Author

Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has demands CBI to investigate the recent encounter where two Bodo youths lost their lives in Kokrajhar district at the Lungsung area. Speaking to the media at Kokrajhar, APCC senior spokesperson Gorjon Mushahary charged the state government with creating a chaotic environment in Bodoland Territorial Region districts by misguiding the administration. The congress party demands CBI investigation into the encounter in Ultapani forest area and punishment of the responsible parties, as...
Lovlina Borgohain, the Women's boxer from Assam, defeated Chen of Chinese Taipei 4-1 to assure a second Tokyo Olympic medal for India on Friday. She will play against Turkish boxer Busenaz SURMENELI in the Semifinals August 4. Watch video of winning moments: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=813783922615822
Lovlina BORGOHAIN advances to quarters in the Women's Welter (64-69kg) beating Germany's Nadine APETZ in the Tokyo 2020 on Tuesday. She will play Nien-Chin CHEN of Taipei on July 30.
The increase in tiger population in the Manas National Park is a milestone in country-wide tiger conservation efforts. Since peace returned to Manas after a prolonged insurgency, dedicated conservation intervention to secure the population of tigers was in place. The annual monitoring of tigers, co-predators, and prey animals is a prime mandate set by the Government of India to all tiger reserves designated as tigers‟ source population sites. With each passing year, Manas is adorning new feathers to its cap. This time „Manas Tiger Reserve‟ has been successful in a three-fold increase in tiger number in the last ten years (2011-2021). It is worth mentioning that this is an outcome of the...
Guwahati: Violation is human rights has become the order of the day in Assam if the statistics available with the state human rights commission is any indication. During the last one year alone, the commission has registered 81 cases in the state.   Till December 1,2020 the number of cases has gone up to 273 in addition to the pending 108 cases. The commission, however, claimed to have settled 178 cases till October 31, 2020.  In 2019, 317 cases were registered and the total cases with the Commission stand at 491. These include 174 pending cases. According to the commission, they have registered highest 69 cases in Kamrup Metro during this period. Kamrup metro is...
Guwahati: The light has gone off from the life of a political era in Assam. Congress veteran and former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is dead. The end came at 3.34 in the evening at the Guwahati Medical College Hospital where he was undergoing treatment of post COVID19 complications. He was 86 and is survived with his wife Dolley Gogoi, son Gaurav Gogoi and daughter Chandrima Gogoi who were around him as he passed away. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal was the first to have paid the last respect for Gogoi. A speechless Sonowal said, “I have lost my father.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues and Chief Ministers from other states have called up Gaurav Gogoi, MP from...
One after another reports of Departmentally Related Standing Committee on Education, 2020-2021 has put BJP and its allies in no less trouble ahead of the assembly pols.   Headed by AGP MLA from Lakhimpur, Utpal Dutta, the committee recommended the government to provincialize the Madrassa schools. That too  at a time when education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has been publicly advocating the closure of the Madrassa schools from November. The committee 2021 submitted in the assembly on March 24, 2020 suggesting the government to provincialize the Arabic Colleges, Senior Madrassas, Pre Madrassas, Title Madrassa schools to accelerate literacy rate in the minority dominated...
Guwahati: North East, the abode of immense resources is set to get a fresh lease of life on its economic sector. The engine of economic activities has started changing its track which was tedious over the years. Now it would be faster like never before. Entrepreneurship is going to be the stock in trade of the state’s economic activities in the time of COVID19 endemic. These are more or less of what Union minister of state for development of north eastern region (DoNER) Dr Jitendra Singh said as he was interacting with a team of officials led by Managing Director Manoj Das of North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (NERAMAC) accompanied by a group of farmers in...
The Centre for Research and Advocacy, Manipur would like to express our concern with the ongoing oil spill and fire at the oil drilling site of the Oil India Limited (OIL) at Baghjan Village in Assam since 27 May 2020. OIL officials failed to control the oil spill as of 10 June 2020. The oil Blowout, or uncontrolled spillage of oil and gas at the oil drilling site has led to displacement of more than 3000 community members in Baghjan Village and surrounding areas and contaminated much of the Maguri-Motapung wetland, part of the eco-sensitive zone of the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park. The oil spill has had an adverse effect on biodiversity of the two eco-sensitive zone.  The Dibru...
Stages are set for delimitation of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in the state before the 2021 assembly polls. State Assembly Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami has set up a panel of legislators to be inducted in the delimitation committee. In an official notification, Goswami named Golaghat MLA Mrinal  Saikia from BJP, Kamalakhya Dey Purikayastha from Congress, Ramendra Narayan Kalita from AGP, Rabiram Brahma from BPF and Hafiz Bashir Ahmed from AIUDF as the members to be inducted in the delimitation panel. In fact, the process was initiated in 2009 when UPA was in power, and Assam along with a few other northeastern states were left out of the exercise after both...