In a most horrendous incident, at least 12 children were killed and more than 50 others taken seriously ill after having their mid-day meal at Dandaman Government primary school at Marhaura in Saran district in Bihar on Tuesday.
The children, aged between 6 and 10 years, fell ill soon after eating the meal, which consisted of rice, pulse and soyabean, police said. According to the prima facie report, the children fell sick after consuming vegetables, which were reportedly not cooked in standard oil. Children who did not eat vegetables are reported to be in good health.
They were rushed to Chhapra Sadar Hospital, where 11 of them were declared dead on arrival. The number of casualty may increase as most of the victims are in critical condition at various hospitals at Masrakh and Chhapra.
The Bihar Government has ordered a probe into the incident, which exposes the Government’s lackadaisical approach in serving quality meal to children studying in the Government schools.
The entire mid-day meal scheme is in a shambles as it is primarily managed by “Anganwadi Sevikas” who lacks knowledge in hygiene and proper storage of the food.
Expressing his grief over the death of the children, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar convened an emergency meeting. Education Minister PK Shahi said that it was difficult to say anything at this stage as only a full probe will unravel the truth. The State Government announced a compensation of `2 lakh each to the families of the deceased. Forensic team has also been rushed to the spot to take samples of the contaminated food and enquire into the incident.
The Union HRD Ministry on Tuesday night rushed a senior official to the State to take stock of the situation. Amarjit Singh, additional secretary in the Ministry supervising the mid-day meal programme in the country, has been sent to take stock of the situation after the tragic incident, sources in the Ministry said.
Coming heavily on the State Government, RJD chief lalu Prasad, who represents the Chhapra constituency in the lok Sabha, sought the resignation of the Chief Minister. A Minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet supplies mid-day meal to the Government schools and therefore the matter should be investigated in details to fix the responsibility, said lalu.
The RJD president accused “unholy nexus” between the State Government and NGOs in the mid-day meal scheme. RJD has called a bandh in Saran district on Wednesday.
Demanding resignation of Nitish Kumar, senior BJP leader and former Bihar Minister Giriraj Singh said that Nitish Kumar should seek fresh mandate on the moral ground as the situation is going out of his control after he broke relations with the BJP.
He said that Nitish Kumar was more dangerous than lalu Prasad as such type of incidents did not take place during the lalu-Rabri regime. “Whether victims of mid-day meal horror will get back their lives if their families are paid cash,” he asked.
“BJP condoles the death of these children. We demand that the government fix responsibility for this incident and strict action be taken against the guilty,” said party spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain.
lJP chief Ramvilas Paswan slammed Nitish Kumar over and demanded his resignation saying these are “not death but murder”. “It exposes the claims of good governance of Nitish Kumar. This (death of students) is not simply death but murder of children for which the Bihar Government and the Chief Minister are responsible. He should resign immediately,” said Paswan.
State Congress president Ashok Choudhary said that the death of so many children in the incidents once again exposes the administrative failure in the State. He said that the entire mid-day meal scheme is being run in the state in a haphazard manner in absence of proper monitoring.