Maggi Ban leads Nestle employee to commit suicide after losing job at Uttarakhand Plant

Delhi : This was waiting to happen. In a tragic turn of events, a Nestle employee has reportedly committed suicide after being laid off from the job following the recent ban on Maggi noodles across India. He was working as a contract employee at the Uttarakhand unit of Nestle India. Following the controversial findings of excessive lead in the famous Nestle product, the officials banned Maggi across country forcing Nestle India to remove as many as 1,100 contract workers. Deceased 32-year-old Lalta Prasad was among one of the unfortunate workers.
According to reports, Lalta Prasad worked at Nestle Maggi plant in Uttarakhand for two years. But once the popular Maggi noodles got embroiled after failing to clear the tests related to the presence of excess amount of MSG and high lead content, the production was stopped. Despite the CEO of Nestle India insisting on the product being harmless and confident on making return, the company started getting rid of the contract employees. Prasad who is survived by wife and two children was extremely distressed after losing the job, something that is seen as the reason behind suicide.
According to Hindustan Times, NA Bharne, senior superintendent of police US Nagar district, “The wife of the worker came to know about Prasad’s suicide after he did not open the door of his room on Monday. His body was hanging from a fan.”
Uttarakhand Government has been one of the states taking strict actions against Nestle India with the High Court strictly banning the sale, production, stocking and distribution of the noodles in the state in its June 3 order.