Lizard in midday meal: Goa orders probe

Education Minister Atanasio Monserrate said while the students from the St.Anthony High School at Majorda, 30 km from here, were out of danger, he had asked state education director Celsa Pinto to probe the incident.

“It is disturbing, but at the same time it was a one-off incident. But anyway I have directed the education director to probe it with the help of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials as to how the food got contaminated,” Monserrate said.

The 12 students fell ill Monday after they ate their midday meal, which comprised chana dal sabzi and bread. While a dead lizard was found in the chana dal sabzi, FDA officials have found a “black insect like matter” in the bread.

A case under Section 336 of the Indian Penal COde has been registered against Jalan Desai, the chief of the self-help group which supplied the food.

This is not the first occasion in recent times when students have fallen ill after eating a midday meal in school. In June this year, over 50 students from the Murgao high school, locate 40 km from here, fell ill and were hospitalised for food poisoning after a dead lizard was found in their midday meal.