It is a recurring incident of dead lizards being found in government school food and breakfast schemes across Tamil Nadu, causing students to fall ill and triggering official suspensions. In a recent incident, 38 students were hospitalised and discharged after a lizard was allegedly found in the breakfast served at Kottaiyur Panchayat Union Middle School in Tiruvallur district on September 24. The students, who complained of dizziness after consuming the food, were taken to the Tiruvallur Government Medical College Hospital for treatment and observation. The food was served free to students under the Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme.
On hearing about the incident, Tiruvallur District Collector S Kavitha took disciplinary action against the two cooks concerned and relieved them from duty.
She also ordered disciplinary action against the school headmaster, a teacher and the Block Development Officer.
According to reports, the cook first noticed the dead lizard in the Rava (a wheat product or semolina) Kichadi while transferring it to smaller vessels for distribution. Fifty-four students from Classes 1 to 8 are enrolled in the school. On that day, out of 54 children, 40 took the meal served to them in the morning.
After 38 students complained of dizziness, teachers checked the food and allegedly found a lizard or parts of it in the vessel.
The remaining students were provided alternative food, while the affected students were taken to Tiruvallur Government Medical College Hospital.
All the students have been discharged after treatment and sent home. Those students who ate the food were admitted to the intensive care unit. One girl student was admitted to the hospital with diarrhoea.
The District Magistrate visited the school and the hospital. Villagers and parents laid siege to the Collector, complaining that the water tank was in a bad condition and that the school area was not cleaned regularly. Later, she told the media that the incident happened because the utensils containing the food were not covered properly.
To prevent such incidents, District Education officials also instructed teachers to taste the food before it is served to students and ensure that there is a 30-minute gap between the teacher consuming the food and it being served to the students. It is learnt that, though this practice is followed in some schools, it is not uniformly adhered to across all schools.
Parents rushed to the hospital after learning about the incident. An inquiry has been initiated in this connection.
TN BJP chief Nainar Nagendran criticised the TVK-led government over alleged instances of contamination of breakfast meant for students of government schools in Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur. He was referring to the hospitalisation of students owing to food contamination.
In a statement, the BJP leader said children’s lives were put at risk in the name of the breakfast scheme. He alleged that such incidents become regular due to poor quality checks and hygiene audits. Nagendran urged the government to take severe action against officials and contractors responsible for these incidents.
Puthiya Tamizhgam president Dr K Krishnaswamy, in a post on X, urged the government to concentrate on giving safe food to students of schools and colleges in the state instead of talking politics. Referring to the Kottaiyur incident, he said it was really shocking and highlighted the dire need to maintain the kitchen and vessels meant for noon or breakfast meals. Even we are not able to give safe food to students in the morning under the CM’s breakfast scheme. While the ground reality is so, ministers are announcing that beef food would be served to students in government hostels. The minister should stop such rhetoric and concentrate on serving quality and safe food to them. Stop such empty talks for political survival and attention.
அமைச்சர்கள் ’கறி’ அரசியல் பேசுவதை விட்டுவிட்டு,
பள்ளி – கல்லூரி மாணவர்களுக்கு பாதுகாப்பான உணவை வழங்குவதில் கவனம் செலுத்துவார்களா?
……………………………………..திருவள்ளூர் அருகே உள்ள கொட்டையூர் ஊராட்சி ஒன்றிய நடுநிலைப் பள்ளியில் வழங்கப்பட்ட காலை உணவில் பல்லி… pic.twitter.com/GJ1ksdsUGL
— Dr K Krishnasamy (@DrKrishnasamy) September 24, 2026
Earlier incidents:
Two days ago, 11 students fell sick after eating breakfast food at Madhuranthagam MelaKandai school.
In March 2026, 44 students at Kavundapalayam Corporation Middle School in Coimbatore district developed nausea and were hospitalised after a dead lizard was found in their midday lunch, resulting in the suspension of three noon-meal staff members.
30 boys and 13 girls of a Govt School fell ill after eating food contaminated by a lizard and were rushed and admitted to the government hospital yesterday!! https://t.co/8FRztKOWWr
— Chennai Updates (@UpdatesChennai) March 11, 2026
In August 2026, nine students from a government-aided middle school in Poonamallee near Chennai were admitted to hospital with mild nausea after a dead lizard was spotted in their school breakfast.
In April 2025, as many as 20 primary school students fainted after having food under the noon meal scheme in Uthiramerur near Kancheepuram. During the investigation, it was found that students had been served food that had a dead lizard. In the Catholic primary government-aided school, more than 50 students are studying.
In September 2025, 37 students at a government middle school in Jambai near Kallakurichi fell ill with nausea and vomiting after a lizard was discovered in their noon meal. The meal, cooked for 89 students, caused nausea and vomiting.
🔸In Dravidian model of TamilNadu
Serving lizards in the midday meal
TamilNadu govt schools are famous for serving lizards to children
– 37 in Kallakurichi in 2025
– 44 in Coimbatore in March 2026Maybe we need reelections in TN more than anywhere
— Kreately.in (@KreatelyMedia) September 24, 2026
In February 2025, seven students at a government school in Harur fell ill after consuming lunch containing a dead lizard, leading to the suspension of three kitchen staff.
In September 2021, 17 children, all aged between two and four years, who consumed noon meal at an Anganwadi, were admitted to Cuddalore Government General Hospital after a few complained of giddiness, nausea and vomiting. An Anganwadi worker in Boothamkatti village prepared tomato rice and eggs and served it to 17 children.
In another disturbing incident in September 2025 at the Panchayat Union Middle School in Aathivarakkanatham near Bhuvanagiri, Cuddalore district, a lizard was discovered in the breakfast served to students. The school, located in Melbhuvanagiri Union, serves 108 students from Classes 1 to 8.
On September 9, 2022, two noon-meal staff members were suspended after more than 40 students at a government high school in Thiruvannamalai district complained of nausea and vomiting after consuming the noon meal. Students said they found a dead lizard in the food.
In August 2013, 120 students of a government school in Kunnam in Perambalur district were hospitalised after they started vomiting and complained of drowsiness on eating food in which a dead lizard was reportedly found, provided under the midday meal scheme.
These are only a few incidents to cite to underline how unsafe food was served to students in Tamil Nadu, irrespective of the political party at the helm. Negligence and failure to follow safety measures before and during cooking, as well as after cooking, and failure to keep the food in well-cleaned, covered containers, remain concerns.
