Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Yet another incident exposed the slackness of system in the primary education department of Uttar Pradesh when a ‘dead rat’ was found in the mid-day meal served to students of a government school in Muzaffarnagar district on Tuesday.

The district administration fulfilled its responsibility by ordering another inquiry into the incident.

The students of Janta Inter College government school at Pachenda in Mustafabad area were served dal-rice as per Tuesday's menu.

After eating the food, around nine students and a teacher fell ill and many other complained of discomfort. They were immediately rushed to the district hospital.

The dead animal was spotted in the midday meal and after allegedly consuming it, the condition of nine students started to deteriorating. The affected students were rushed to the district hospital for treatment.

The food for the midday meal is supplied to the school by an organisation called the Jan Kalyan Sewa Samiti, based in Hapur. The district administration has got an FIR registered against the agency supplying the meals.

As per Basic Shiksha Adhikari Ram Sagar Pati Tripathi, as the dead rat was spotted in the cooked food, the entire lot of meals was sealed. District coordinator Vikas Tyagi was sent to the site of cooking – Kukra-- for probe.

Moreover, an official letter was initiated to Mid-Day Meal Development Authority against the meal supplying agency.

College principal Dr Vinod Kumar said that the teacher who had tasted the meal before being served to the students was also sent to the hospital.

Last week, a similar anomaly in the system was exposed when one litre of milk was mixed in a bucket full of water and was distributed among 81 school children at a government primary school in Sonbhadra district.

A shiskha mitra was sacked, a headmaster was suspended and action was initiated against an Additional Basic Shiksha Adhikari (ABSA).

In an earlier shocker in August, this year, children in a primary school in Mirzapur were served salt and roti to in the name of mid-day meals.

The locals had alleged that the school had only been serving the children the paltry meal of salt and roti, with rice at times.

They also said although milk would be distributed to the school, it was never served to the children.

While the state government registered an FIR against the journalist who exposed the act by shooting the incident and making the video viral on social media.

Even the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had taken note of it and sent a notice to the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary following which two teachers were suspended.