Girl, 5, Falls In Hot Daal During Mid-Day Meal At Madhya Pradesh School

A five-year-old girl sustained serious burn injuries after she fell in a utensil full of hot daal being served as mid-day meal at a Madhya Pradesh school, officials said Tuesday.

The incident happened when the daily meal was being served to students at a primary school in Baansla on Monday.

Tejeshwari Tandiya, a class 1 student, was standing in a queue along with other children to receive the food when the children started pushing and shoving each other to get to the front, officials said. Amid the rush, the five-year-old girl, who was standing close to the utensil filled with hot daal, was suddenly pushed into it.

The child was rushed to a nearby hospital in Bhanupratappur to receive initial treatment and then moved to the district hospital as her injuries were severe. She has sustained 30 per cent burns on her body, officials added.

As per protocol, students receiving mid-day meals are supposed to be seated while the food is individually served to them.

Pratik Jain, Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Bhanupratappur said a team has been constituted to investigate the gross negligence by school officials. “We are taking appropriate action against the concerned teachers and a show-cause notice has been issued to them. We are trying to ensure that such an incident does not happen again,” he added.