Patna:
In the Chhapra part of Bihar, the agony of losing 23 young children who were fed a poisoned lunch at their school exactly a week ago has shaken a village and its surrounding areas.
But the government, which has alleged that the free mid-day meal may have been deliberately laced with insecticide, says it cannot guarantee that the disaster will not repeat.
P K Shahi, the Education Minister, said today, "As a minister, how can I guarantee that in 72,000 schools across the state, there won't be any poison in the food if somebody is hell bent on doing so."
Over the weekend, a forensic report based on the food samples and cooking oil used for the fatal meal showed traces of insecticide called monocrotophos. The World Heath Organisation in a statement today said it had asked India to ban the toxic substance as early as in 2009. (Read)
The headmistress of the school and her husband, who allegedly supplied the groceries used for the meal, have been missing since the children began throwing up last week. A court today issued a warrant for principal Meena Devi in whose home five empty packets of the insecticide were found on Sunday.
The children who were killed were between the ages of 4 and 10. Some of them were buried in a mark of protest by their parents near the entrance of their school.
The magnitude of the tragedy has provoked a national debate on the world's largest school feeding programme and how it is implemented.
The government of Goa, where nearly 30 children were hospitalized on Friday after their school lunch left them sick, says it may suspend the mid-day meal scheme till it figures out how to supervise the quality of food being given to children. (Read)
But the government, which has alleged that the free mid-day meal may have been deliberately laced with insecticide, says it cannot guarantee that the disaster will not repeat.
P K Shahi, the Education Minister, said today, "As a minister, how can I guarantee that in 72,000 schools across the state, there won't be any poison in the food if somebody is hell bent on doing so."
Over the weekend, a forensic report based on the food samples and cooking oil used for the fatal meal showed traces of insecticide called monocrotophos. The World Heath Organisation in a statement today said it had asked India to ban the toxic substance as early as in 2009. (Read)
The headmistress of the school and her husband, who allegedly supplied the groceries used for the meal, have been missing since the children began throwing up last week. A court today issued a warrant for principal Meena Devi in whose home five empty packets of the insecticide were found on Sunday.
The children who were killed were between the ages of 4 and 10. Some of them were buried in a mark of protest by their parents near the entrance of their school.
The magnitude of the tragedy has provoked a national debate on the world's largest school feeding programme and how it is implemented.
The government of Goa, where nearly 30 children were hospitalized on Friday after their school lunch left them sick, says it may suspend the mid-day meal scheme till it figures out how to supervise the quality of food being given to children. (Read)
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