Days after around 100 students were rushed to the hospital in Araria after a dead snake was traced out in their mid-day meal, another incident of serious negligence by the authorities while serving the mid-day meal has come to the fore in Supaul of Bihar.
As per the reports, as many as 45 children were rushed to hospital after they complained of vomiting and stomach ache after consuming their mid-day meal in a Government middle school in Thunthi village of Supaul of Bihar on May 29.
The incident occurred under the Bhimpur police station limit when a mid-day meal was served to the student as per the daily routine. However, one of the students, while having her meal, saw a dead lizard in her plate, to which she immediately informed the authorities.
As per the report, the headmaster, after learning about the incident, suggested the student to throw down her meal though till then, some of the children started complaining of stomach ache and started vomiting. Soon after the children’s health deteriorated, teachers, with the help of the local cops and villagers who at that time had gathered in large numbers, rushed the children to the Narpatganj PHC.
It’s been reported that at least four students were admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU) after being found to be critical, while the rest were sent back home after initial checkups. Learning about the incident, a three-member inspection team also visited the school on May 30 and enquired about the incident.
After interacting with the students and the school authorities, the inspection team concluded that though the incident had not been triggered intentionally, it was an act of negligence by the school administration.
Let us recall that in a similar incident in Amauna middle school under the Jogbani police station area of Araria district, around 100 students were rushed to the hospital after a dead snake was traced in the Khichdi served to them as part of the mid-day meal on May 27.
However, the authorities had maintained that only 30 children fell sick who were immediately rushed to the Forbesganj sub-divisional hospital for treatment. Learning about the incident, SDO Forbesganj also assured to conduct an enquiry into the matter against the NGO that supplied the Khichdi.
It is to be noted that this is not the first time that the school children have fallen sick after consuming the mid-day meal being supplied in the Government schools in Bihar and it is more or less has become a regular phenomenon in the central Eastern State.
Earlier in another shocking development, as many as 35 children had fallen sick after consuming mid-day meals distributed at a Government school, Utkarit Girls Middle School Rasulpur, Tukulia Tola of Dumri region of Sadar block in Saran on May 18.
It was then reported that when the children were having their mid-day meal, one of the students, Akash found a dead lizard in his food, following which he informed the Cook, Shobha Devi, about that.
Learning about the incident, the school principal Suman Kumari immediately halted the food distribution; however, till then, many of the students started complaining of stomach pain and vomiting, after which they were rushed to the district hospital.
In another incident, as many as 23 children lost their lives after consuming an organophosphate-contaminated food at Dharmasati Gandaman primary school under Masrakh police station limits of Saran in 2013.
In 2016 the district court, in its judgment while treating the case as rarest of rare, held the school principal Manju Devi guilty of culpable homicide and awarded a maximum imprisonment of 10 years.
In a similar incident in November 2022, nearly 200 students had also fallen sick after consuming the mid-day meal in the Naugachia region of Bhagalpur in Bihar.
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