Govt still mum

Instead, it has only handed further responsibility to WFP for food storage in the districts where shortages during the monsoon are feared.

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Rice carried by WFP to Laprak in Gorkha district for earthquake victims was found to be rotten while being distribution on Wednesday and Thursday, just two weeks after rice distributed by WFP, the humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, in Kavre district was found substandard. In Laprak, 25 sacks of rice, each weighing 25 kg, were found rotten and inedible.

On May 23, the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DoFTQC), the government body responsible for testing the quality of food items, had found rice distributed by WFP in Kavre district to be substandard.

Following this disclosure, WFP had immediately recalled around 3,625 tons of rice it distributed in the earthquake-affected areas of the district.

Likewise, locals in Nuwakot and Sindhupalchowk had also complained to the District Disaster Relief Committees that the rice supplied by WFP was of poor quality and inedible, but no tests were carried out on the rice.

During a cholera outbreak in Jajarkot district in 2009, food items distributed by WFP were found substandard and the UN body was widely criticized for providing food of poor quality to the public.

After conducting a field study in Kavre district, the National Human Rights Commission had recommended to the government to bring the matter under legal ambit and take action against WFP, saying that the organization was putting public health at risk.

But the government has remained silent and not yet made any official move in this connection.

Shanta Raj Subedi, secretary at the Prime Minister's Office, admitted that the government has not taken any steps against WFP although there is controversy surrounding the distribution of poor-quality rice and NHRC has even drawn the government's attention.

"A probe report submitted by the Agriculture Ministry indicates that WFP distributed poor-quality food in Kavre last month. We will decide what to do over this matter after we examine the rice distributed in Laprak, Gorkha and study the matter in detail," he said. "Right now, we don't have enough information as to how much and what type of rice it distributed in those areas."

Chief Secretary Leela Mani Paudyal was tightlipped about the matter. "Right now we have directed the Ministry of Agriculture to look into the matter," he quipped.

Meanwhile, WFP has maintained that the rice supplied to earthquake-affected communities in Laprak VDC was damaged by rain during transport. Issuing a press release on Thursday, WFP said that it was replacing 120 bags of damaged rice and taking the matter up with the transporter.

Forget about taking any action, the government on Friday said it is in the dark as to how much relief material has been distributed by WFP, which is receiving aid materials for Nepal's earthquake victims from 95 various international institutions.