India, Nov. 5 -- The kernel of the mango fruit was a symbol of 'starvation deaths' in the 80s and 90s when erstwhile Congress chief minister JB Patnaik battled the charges of not being able to provide food to impoverished tribals.

The mango kernel has again come under focus in Odisha after two women in the backward Kandhamal district died in a span of 12 hours last week while six others are in hospital after their meal of mango kernel gruel and fermented rice turned out to be poisonous.

Thirty-year-old Runi Majhi and 28-year-old Ramita Patamajhi of Mandipanka village in Daringibadi block died last week, two days after they consumed mango kernel gruel and fermented rice while six other women of the village who had consumed the same gruel...