Bihar mid-day meal tragedy: Government orders school principals, cooks to taste food first

Patna: Faced with intense criticism,Nitish Kumar's Bihar government has released a prominent ad in newspapersinstructing the principal and cook in every school to first taste the freemid-day meal before it is served to children. Officials in charge of checkingthe meals will also have to taste the food and record the quality.

 
The administration is, however, yet to report any arrests in Chhapra, where 23children, most of them under ten years of age, have died after eating lunch atschool on Tuesday. Initial reports suggest the meals were poisoned. Theprincipal of the school has managed to evade the police so far.

The newspaper ads were published a day after 50 children in the neighbouringdistrict of Madhubani were rushed to hospital on Wednesday afternoon after themid-day meal at school left them sick. None were seriously ill, said officials.

Over 20 children from the Chhapra school are still in hospital, some incritical condition, after eating food that state Education Minister PK Shahisaid had traces of organic phosphorous or insecticide. Residents of Chhapraclaim that the cooking oil used in the meal was stored in a can of pesticide. Aforensic report on the oil samples is expected in a couple of days.

Mr Shahi has alleged a conspiracy to discredit the ruling Janata Dal United orJD(U).

The minister said groceries for the Chhapra school were bought from a storeowned by the missing headmistress' husband, who, he alleged, had politicalaffiliations. Though he did not name a party, sources say the allusion is tothe opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal or RJD whose chief Lalu Prasad representsChhapra constituency in Parliament.

"An inquiry will determine if the poisoning was inadvertent ordeliberate," Mr Shahi said.

The BJP, which was recently dumped by the JD(U) from a 17-year partnership,agreed with locals who alleged delays and inadequate assistance by theadministration.