Ranchi: A nine-member committee, formed by the state food and civil supplies department earlier this year to define "starvation death" and its circumstances to facilitate compensation, has missed a deadline and there is no word on when it might be able to table its report.

The tardy progress being made by the team assumes significance in the midst of two more alleged hunger deaths - in Giridih and Chatra - earlier this week. While Savitri Devi (58) of Giridih's Dumri block had no ration card and hadn't reportedly eaten in 72 hours before she died, rag-picker Meena Mushar (45) in Chatra's Itkhori had had no money to buy food for four days.

On March 5, the food and civil supplies department had notified the panel and set April 30 as the deadline for its report, which was also expected to enclose recommendations to streamline the public distribution system. If insiders are to be believed, the team won't be able to furnish its findings even by June 30.

Director (food and civil supplies) Sunil Kumar Sinha, who happens to be the chairman of the committee, said they were targeting the second week of July.

"So far, two rounds of meeting have been conducted among stakeholders. A team also visited Deoghar (where hunger death was reported last year) for field study. I am yet to receive findings. We will debate and discuss issues before tabling our report," he said.

Asked why only Deoghar was chosen when starvation deaths were reported from elsewhere too, Sinha said the district was a random pick.

"If need be, field studies will be done in Simdega, Dhanbad, Giridih or Chatra too. A field study is not restricted to the family of the deceased. We aim to profile the area, social dynamics, health, employment index, et al, for thorough scientific reasoning," he said.

Last August, Jharkhand had been jolted out of slumber after 11-year-old Santoshi Kumari died in Simdega of alleged starvation. Deaths were reported in other districts too, but the authorities dismissed hunger in each case.

In one of the recent cases, medical reasons are being furnished.

Food minister Saryu Roy on Thursday made public Savitri Devi's CT scan reports, dated January, which stated she suffered from acute parenchymal haematoma (internal bleeding of the brain).

Meena Mushar's autopsy report is pending, but the department has argued that she came to Chatra from Bihar only a fortnight before her death.

Nevertheless, Roy dispatched a two-member team to Giridih to double-check the first probe report. The team of joint secretary Vinay Kumar and additional director Sanjay Kumar are expected to submit their findings by late Friday evening.