Bengaluru: Amid rumours of areca being carcinogenic in nature, the members of state BJP in the Parliament along with Campco and Mamco submitted a memorandum to Union Health Minister J P Nadda that the areca nut does not contain any anti-health agents.
As a result, the minister directed the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI) to provide a detailed information which is supplementary to the areca nut. It may be recalled that in the last Parliamentary session, Union Health Minister for State Anupriya Patel, while responding to a question, had said that areca nut was carcinogenic by nature. “It is proven by few researches”, she had claimed. Her remarks had left the areca cultivators worried for their produce.
Union Minister and Uttara Kannada MP Ananth Kumar Hegde and Mangaluru MP Nalin Kumar Kateel had recently met Health Minister J P Nadda on the issue. Nadda assured them of sorting out the issue soon after getting a report from CPCRI or any other reputed institution.
BJP State President B S Yeddyurappa said that areca nut does not contain poisonous content. “We have explained the facts to the union government. They assured of getting a supportive report from the laboratory. Farmers need not worry about the issue,” he said.
