As Chief Minister Nitish Kumar continues to maintain a stoic silence over the tragic death of 23 children who lost their lives after consuming mid-day meal at Dharmasati Dandaman village in Saran district five days back, the Opposition parties have upped their ante against him over his Government’s failure to make any major breakthrough in the investigation so far.
The Opposition parties intensified their attack against the Government, particularly against the backdrop of its sheer failure in arresting the headmistress of the Dandaman Primary School, Meena Kumari, who is the main accused in the FIR registered in this connection.
Superintendent of Police (Saran) Sujit Kumar told The Pioneer that an intensive search operation was on to nab the headmistress and also exploring other legal options like attachment of property to force her to surrender before the district authorities. He also exuded confidence that the absconding headmistress will be nabbed soon.
leading the attack against the Chief Minister, senior BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said that Kumar who always wants to take all the credit for the development of Bihar should not shy way from taking all the blame for the death of children in the mid-day meal horror.
He said that State Education Minister PK Shahi immediately jumped to the conclusion that a political conspiracy was hatched to destabilise the State Government and also claimed that headmistress Meena Kumari’s husband, Arjun Rai used to supply grocery items to the school from his grocery shop.
“I ask the Government to disclose the names of those people who wanted to destabilise the Government by adopting the tactic of poisoning children,” the BJP leader remarked.
It has now been found that Arjun Rai has no grocery shop at Dharmasati Dandaman village and if any such shop exists, why the Government has not sealed it so far.
Shahi had also alleged that Rai has connections with an Opposition party but why Rai has not been named in the FIR registered in connection with the case if the police have really some concrete evidence against him, Modi contended.
“I am not defending anybody but I am only pointing out how the State Government is misleading the people through such pleas,” he stated, adding that the Education Minister’s statement had only created doubts over the impartiality of the probe presently underway in the death of children.
The State Government only tried to implicate his political opponents after Shahi was defeated by RJD candidate Prabhunath Singh in the Maharajganj by-election, the BJP leader added.
“When anything wrong happens in the State, the Government tries to find out a scapegoat and this time the Government has found it in the headmistress of the school,” the BJP leader added.
Similarly, when Bodh Gaya serial bomb blasts took place, the Government made the private security guards responsible for the breach of security inside the Mahabodhi temple premises.
He said that the Government’s failure to respond promptly to the mid-day meal tragedy resulted in loss of precious lives and asked the Government to form a separate committee of health experts to find out what medical lapses were committed once children complained about restlessness and dizziness after consuming the meal.
The Government had also surrendered `462.78 crore to the Centre as it could not spend the sanctioned amount on the mid-day meal scheme in the State from 2006-07 to 2009-10. Modi said that doctors at the primary health centre at Masrakh administered antiemetic drug to the children, proving fatal for them. He said that children were suffering from poisoning after eating mid-day meal and antiemetic drug which is effective against vomiting and nausea only made their condition worse.
The RJD also staged a day-long dharna at all district headquarters in protest against the mid-day meal tragedy.
The party also organised a “mahadharna” at Chhapra where the newly elected MP Prabhunath Singh held the CM responsible for the incident.
Singh said that the people will teach a lesson to Nitish Kumar in the elections as they are now fully aware how the “Sushashan Babu” is misruling the State.
Bihar Congress president Ashok Choudhary demanded a CBI probe into the entire mid-day meal scheme in the State, alleging that corruption is rampant in the implementation of the programme.
He said that the State Government is making its entire efforts in arresting the headmistress of the school but why it is shying away from taking action against the District Magistrate and the District Education Officer of Saran who are more responsible for proper execution of the mid-day meal scheme under their jurisdiction.