Rajeev Pratap Rudy: Amusing to believe that Litchi is the cause of Encephalitis deaths in Bihar

Is Litchi the real reason behind deaths due to Encephalitis, asked Rajeev Pratap Rudy, the Member of Parliament from Saran.

The subject was taken up in the Zero Hour on Friday's parliamentary proceedings, the first in the newly formed 17th Lok Sabha.

He said, "We all were born and brought up in Bihar and had litchis right from childhood. There has been an incident in Bihar which is almost an epidemic. Around 120 lives have been lost. Nonetheless, it is very amusing to believe that litchi is the cause."

Rudy asked why there are no similar cases from China, which is the world's largest producer of Litchi.

The doubts over the fruit as the cause of the encephalitis outbreak has been affecting yield, which gets demand from across the world, the BJP leader said.

"I am not a scientist or researcher. But let us not kill the industry, we should be more pragmatic and find the correct reason behind children's death," Rudy further stated.

The death toll due to encephalitis (AES) touched 117 on Thursday morning in the Muzaffarpur district of Bihar.