Very soon protein rich "patal bageri" (rat meat) would adorn the menu of hotels in the state as Bihar government is actively considering a proposal for rat farming on the lines of chicken, goat and pig husbandry in order to popularise consumption of protein rich rat meat.

Welfare and Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe Development Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said that he had asked his department to popularise the consumption of rat meat as it would go a long way in improving status of the lot of Dalit community particularly the "Musharars" (a rat eating tribe) in Bihar and adjoining states of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.

Manjhi said, "Consumption of rat meat is safe. I and my family members are consuming the rat meat since our childhood without contacting any fatal disease. I have been told by the doctors and dieticians that the rat meat is protein rich and do not cause any health hazards."

He said, "If chicken, christened as 'ram ki pakshi', why not rat meats (patal bageri) could be served in restaurants that can help in economic emancipation of Dalit community.

"The state Welfare department is actively considering a proposal to develop farms for rearing rats on a mass scale and if the rat meats appear on the menus of the restaurants the economic condition of Dalits will improve manifold," Manjhi said.

Manjhi said once the rat meat was accepted as "hygienic" food material and people start consuming it on mass scale like chicken, goat or pig meat, it could be sold at Rs 100 a kg in open market as against current rate of Rs 10 per kg.

The minister said the Welfare department would take a policy decision for imparting rat rearing training and hoped that many people who consume rat surreptitiously would come out in the open, thereby contributing their lot in improving the conditions of more than 23 lakh people of Mushahar community and other Dalits.

"It will not be mandatory for the hoteliers to serve the new food item for the urbanites," Manjhi clarified, saying the hotel owners would be "requested and not forced" to popularise the consumption of rat meat by preparing food items like they do using other meats.

A few months ago the department's proposal to popularise the art of catching rats particularly from the paddy fields by the members of Mushahar community and its sale in the open market had created a controversy with members of different political parties terming the decision as an attack on the development of this particular community.