Bihar midday meal death toll mounts to 22 ; protest in Patna
PATNA, JUL 17 - With the death of two more children, the toll due to consumption of contaminated midday meal at a government primary school in Bihar 's Saran district rose to 22 on Wednesday.
While 16 children, aged below 10 years and studying in Class I to V, had died in Chhapra itself, four others were declared dead on arrival at Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) late last night. Two died at the hospital this morning, official and PMCH sources said.
Among the dead were two children of a woman cook of the midday meal project Panno Devi. Three children of another woman cook Manju Devi are under treatment at PMCH along with her.
Twenty five others are under medical supervision in PMCH, Superintendent of PMCH Amarkant Jha Azad said.
The Superintendent said the ailing children were admitted to ICU of paediatric department and senior doctors were attending to them round-the-clock.
The tragedy took place at the government primary school in Dahrmasati Gandawan village at Mashrakh block, about 25 km from Chhapra and 60 km from state capital yesterday.
BJP Vice President C P Thakur, himself a doctor, who visited PMCH, told reporters it appears to be a case of acute poisoning.
He said as per reports traces of organo phoshphrous have been found in the meal served to children which is poisonous.
Some women groups staged protest in Patna and also attacked the Midday meal scheme state office.
The agitated women broke flower pots in the office and also damaged table, chair and other properties.
Youth Congress workers led by its former state president Lallan Kumar and youth leader Rohit Kumar burnt effigy of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at Dak Bunglow chowk in the state capital.
A Chhapra report said that angry villagers attacked the government primary school at Dharmasatii Gandavan village in Mashrakh block and broke furniture and the oven on which the meal was cooked.
The head mistress of the school is absconding with her family.
The deaths triggered a political row with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday calling Nitish Kumar "insensitive".
"The chief minister of Bihar instead of showing promptness in evacuating the children to a better medical facility has announced a ex-gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh for the children who died after having a midday meal. This showcases the insensitivity and the callous attitude," said BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Delhi.
In Bihar , widespread corruption is reported in the midday meal scheme and government guidelines on food quality are ignored.
In the past, dead lizards, frogs, insects and a rat were found in food cooked for the midday meal at schools, angering students and parents.
Hitting out at Nitish Kumar government, the state PCC chief said the Bihar government cannot escape the blame and should initiate action against the district administration for handling the situation in an "insensitive" manner.
Demanding action against the accused, Bihar Congress chief Ashok Chaudhary said at PMCH that his party has in the past pointed irregularities in midday meal scheme in the state.
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