In a shocking development, locals created a furore after a dead rat and lizard were found in the mid-day meal served to students at Sahurgachi Bidyanandapur primary school in West Bengal’s Malda district on Wednesday.
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Official promises strict action
“The case of dead lizard and rat found in mid-day meal has come to our notice. Strict actions are being taken against those who are responsible for it,” DM Nitin Singhania was quoted as saying by ANI.
As per reports, a local named Afsar has said that the school’s mid-day meal is of inferior quality.
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“Students have been complaining about it for a long time. We caught them red-handed today,” he added.
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Snake found in mid-day meal
This comes a day after 30 students of a district primary school were hospitalised in West Bengal’s Birbhum district upon consuming food in which a snake was allegedly found.
The school staffer, who had cooked the meal, also claimed that a snake was found in one of the containers filled with lentils.
As per reports, the children were rushed to hospital after they started to vomit profusely.
Later, the children, barring one, were discharged from the hospital.
The BDO of the area had assured that the child in the hospital, too, was out of danger.
The guardians reportedly gheraoed the school’s headmaster and vandalised his two-wheeler.
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Upgraded mid-day meal menu in Bengal
Recently, the Mamata Banerjee-led government announced that chicken and seasonal fruits will be included in mid-day meals of state and state-aided schools at the primary level.
The initiative will run for four months – from January to April.
Generally, the mid-day meals in state and state-aided schools serve rice, pulses, vegetables and occasionally soybean and egg.
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But this menu upgrade seems to be politically motivated.
Reportedly, this move by TMC is a damage-control measure in the rural and semi-urban areas to counter grievances over housing under the PM Awas Yojana (PMAY) amidst the panchayat polls buzz.
To enable the new menu, the government will be spending an additional Rs 372 crore on mid-day meals—an extra Rs 20 per child per week. The state is entirely bearing the cost.
The mid-day meal system is a Centre-state initiative, the ratio of funding being 60: 40.
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