A day after 254 children studying in a Zilla Parishad school in the neighbouring Thane district took ill after consuming khichdi served to them as mid-day meal, the Vikhramgadh police registered an offence under Section 269 of the Indian Penal Code against International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) for alleged food poisoning.
Of the 254 children who complained of vomiting, giddiness, nausea and abdominal pain after consuming khichidi served in their school in Kasa-Budruk village of Vikramgadh taluka in Thane district, 102 are still under observation at Kasa rural hospital.
The children, studying in I to VII standards in a ZP school, had fallen sick after consuming khichdi prepared by the volunteers of ISKCON which supplies mid-day meal to children in several government schools across Mumbai and neighbouring Thane district.
Following the incident, a team of Maharashtra’s Food and Drug Administration (GDA), led by FDA’s Joint Commissioner, Konkan region, Suresh Deshmukh, rushed to the affected school. The team collected samples of food served to the affected children and sent them to a laboratory for an analysis,
“Our first objective is to establish the cause of a possible food poisoning. We have sent the food samples for a laboratory test. Simultaneously I have rushed my officers to food processing units of the ISKCON at Wada and Palghar from where the food is supplied to the ZP schools,” Deshmukh said.
Maharashtra Health Minister Dr Deepak Sawant visited the Kasa Sub-District Hospital and enquired about the condition of the children undergoing treatment of food poisoning there. He promised action against those responsible.
Meanwhile, the Vikramgadh police have registered a case under section 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the IPC against ISKCON.