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Tadpole found in midday meal in Moradabad school

At least four children fall sick, principal suspended
Last Updated 25 July 2013, 20:58 IST

Rabia, a student at the primary school at Dilari in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad district, about 350 kilometers from here, had seen tadpoles but never in her food.

On Wednesday, she, however, saw one in the khichri (rice and pulses made together) served to her at the primary school as part of the midday meal scheme. As she cried in shock, the other kids having their meal at the school gathered there. They all threw their meal.

Local villagers also came rushing to the school on getting the information and created a ruckus there, reports said.

At least four children fell sick and had to be taken to the hospital. They were stated to be out of danger and would be discharged after some necessary check ups, the doctors said.

The three cooks and the teachers, including the principal, locked the school and fled from there fearing assault by the angry villagers.

Sub-divisional magistrate Vijay Pal Singh later visited the school and was shocked to see the dirty surroundings. The three cooks had been removed and the principal Naval Kishore and a teacher were suspended for their failure to ensure that the meal served was of good quality, officials said.

Taking cognisance of the incident, the UP government on Thursday issued an advisory for the district officials with regard to maintaining quality of the midday meal in schools. It said that the Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) would be held responsible in the event of the meal being found of poor quality.

Barely a few days ago 11 children had fallen sick and had to be rushed to the hospital after having the midday meal at a primary school in Muzaffarnagar district of Bihar.
After the Bihar tragedy, at many places, the children have refused to eat the meal. Such reports have been received from Basti and other places, sources here said.

A concerned UP government has directed that the midday meal in the schools in the state would served only after being properly checked and its quality verified. The scheme covered over one lakh primary and 53 thousand upper primary schools in the state with around 20 lakh students.

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(Published 25 July 2013, 20:57 IST)

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