A team comprising senior officials of the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) on Monday started probing the reasons behind the food positioning of hostel girls on Saturday. However, no clue for the sudden ill-health was identified.
“Our hostel superint-endents and in-charge of PSl visited the lower kitchen of the Junior Girls Hostel Block Number 1 from where the meal to all the affected girls was served. We are yet to find the cause for the food positioning,” said RIMS Director Satyendra Kumar Chaudhary.
Apart from the RIMS committee members, Jharkhand State Commission for Women (JSCW) chairperson Mahua Maji visited the hostel rooms and kitchen on Monday. She even went across the spices, oil and vegetables used in the food.
Notably, after the incident was reported at RIMS on Sunday, Health Department Principal Secretary K Vidyasagar directed Chaudhary to probe the matter and taken prompt action.
Around 28 undergraduate girls of the premiere state medical cradle were admitted in the isolation and dengue wards on Sunday morning after they complaint of dehydration due to vomiting and loss motion since Saturday night.
“We had Idli-Sambar in the breakfast, Khichri in lunch and Chhola Puri in dinner on Saturday. Some started feeling uneasy after eating Idli while others felt the same after taking the Chola and Puri,” said Preeti Jha, an undergraduate student injected with the saline water in the isolation ward.
Similarly, another girl student in the ward said, “We suspect it for the unhygienic atmosphere around the kitchen as the washrooms and drainage system is attached to the kitchen entrance.”
Meanwhile, the cook and assistants deployed in the kitchen for past two decades denied accepting that the poisoning was due to their prepared meal. “Every day we prepare the meal with fresh materials. In fact, kilos of uneaten meal is thrown or distributed to the needy ones to avoid health problems. Ours is the most hygienic kitchen among the kitchens in other girl’s hostels here,” said cook Rameshwar Prasad Mehta.
On one side, 12 girls among the 28 admitted ones were discharged today, on the other side, the post graduate students working as doctors in the dengue ward said many other girls are approaching them for past two days with symptoms of food poisoning. “We have prescribed medicines to about 40 girls since yesterday who were detected with symptoms of food poisoning after eating meals from the same kitchen on Saturday. Though it was not much serious but definitely a matter of concern,” said a post graduate student.
Some girls in the hostel, they confirmed of dehydration. “The administration hardly pays attention to our problems. So, many of us are taking medicines along with ORS. We are still feeling weak,” said an intern student.