Cong attacks MP govt's footwear scheme over carcinogenic dye

The Congress hit out at the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government for allegedly supplying shoes lined with a "cancer causing chemical" to tendu leaf collectors as part of its Charan Paduka Yojana.

MP Forest Minister Gaurishankar Shejwar said two lakh samples had been rejected after excess azo dye was found in the inner sole.

Citing media reports which stated that the Central Leather Research Institute had confirmed the presence of an organic compound called "azo dye" in the inner sole of some of the footwear, the Congress demanded an inquiry into the issue.

Azo dyes which were used for dyeing fibres, leather, plastic besides food items and were banned by the Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1997 after it was found to be carcinogenic.

The MP government has so far distributed footwear to 8.14 lakh men and 10.20 lakh women tendu leaf collectors as part of the scheme.

In a tweet on Friday, MP Congress chief Kamal Nath accused the state government of playing with their lives.

"It is a cause of concern that the lakh of tendu patta collectors belonging to tribal community were distributed shoes laced with cancer causing chemical, according to CLRI testing," his tweet claimed.

"No one has the right to play with the lives of these people. How these shoes and slippers were distributed without testing? Who is responsible," Nath's asked.

He issued a statement demanding that the shoes distributed to the tendu leaf collectors be taken back and also called for details of their purchase and distribution.

Reacting to the controversy, the state forest minister said, "Two lakh shoes out of the samples sent for testing have been rejected after excess amount of azo dye was found in the inner sole. No payment has been made so far to the company."