The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar on Wednesday came under severe criticisms after it distributed mangoes among all its 318 legislators from both houses of the state legislature amid ongoing deaths of children from suspected encephalitis. Around 200 children have died from this unidentified disease so far this year.

The agriculture minister defended the move saying the idea was aimed at saving the environment by gifting mangoes and mango saplings. “We are concerned about the environment. Since the state is also known for mangoes, we decided to distribute them among all legislators,” agriculture minister Prem Kumar explained.

His cabinet colleague and JD-U leader Shyam Rajak too offered similar logic. “The environment is in danger these days and by distributing mangoes and mango saplings we want to ask people to plant more trees so that environment issues could be solved,” Rajak claimed.

The main opposition RJD and the Congress, however, refused to accept the mango gift from the Nitish Kumar government saying they find it morally incorrect to celebrate at a time when hundreds of families are grieving the deaths of their children.

“While on the one hand children are dying from disease, on the other the government is eating mangoes. This is very shameful and will have disastrous impact on all those who eat,” remarked former chief minister Rabri Devi of the RJD. “Jo bhi vidhayak aam khayega, use hai lagegi,” she said adding that instead of saving the children, the government was distributing mangoes.

The Congress party too described the mango gift not in a very good taste. “The government has done this just to hide its failures. This is very shameful and we strongly condemn this,” Congress legislator Premchandra Mishra said. He said whoever eats mangoes would have upset stomach as the time is not ripe for it with the poor children dying from the disease.

According to a report of the state government, the suspected encephalitis has claimed lives of as many as 1,663 children in the past nine years even as the disease is yet to be identified.

This year the disease has killed 154 children till June 28 while 33 children died last year. In 2017, 54 children had died, 103 in 2016, 90 in 2015, 379 in 2014, 222 in 2013, 424 in 2012 and 204 in 2011, as per a report of the state government.