'Haldi-chawal' served as mid-day meal in UP school

Uttar Pradesh government was once again left red-faced after a video showing children of a primary school having 'haldi-chawal' (juice prepared with turmeric-rice) as mid-day meal went viral on the social networking sites.

It was alleged that the children of the primary school at Vichparia village in the state's Sitapur district, about 90 kilometers from here, were served rice and juice prepared with turmeric though as per the menu they were supposed to be served vegetables and rice.

District basic education department officials, who rushed to the school after the video went viral, however, refuted the charges and claimed that the kids had been served rice and vegetables.

''The children were given soybeans and rice as mid-day meal.... they consumed the beans first and then had the rice with the juice....someone made the video while they were having rice with the yellowish juice and hence the confusion,'' said a senior district education department official in Sitapur on Sunday.

The 'haldi-chawal' video comes close on the heels of the video, that showed children at a primary school in Mirzapur district eating 'namak-roti' (chapati-salt) as mid-day meal, triggering a nationwide outrage.

Then also the officials had claimed that the video was ''manipulated'' and accused a local scribe of hatching a ''conspiracy'' to ''defame'' the state government.

An FIR was also registered against the scribe but the state government had to retreat following widespread criticism from media organisations and other quarters.

In the instant case also, sources said that efforts were on the trace the person, who made the video and uploaded it on social media.