The Madras High Court Bench here has ordered notice to the State Health Department and the Madurai district administration based on a petition filed by a 27-year-old man seeking Rs.20 lakh compensation for the death of his two-year-old son.
The petitioner, T. Manivannan, a daily wage labourer, alleged in his petition that his child M. Munichamy alias Akash died after eating noon meal at the Thirumal Natham anganwadi centre on July 30, 2013.
According to Mr. Manivannan, his son started vomiting and fell unconscious after consuming the noon meal at the anganwadi. The child was rushed to the Government Hospital in Sholavandan, but it did not respond to treatment, he added.
On the advice of the doctors at the Sholavandan Government Hospital, the child was taken to the Government Rajaji Hospital the following day, the petitioner claimed. However, the doctors at the GRH declared the child to have been brought dead, according to the petitioner.
In his petition, Mr. Manivannan claimed that the teacher in the anganwadi admitted to have force-fed his son.
The lunch served in the anganwadi was prepared by a cook at her house in the early morning as the anganwadi did not have a kitchen, he further claimed.
The cooked rice turned dry and hard for the children to eat most of the days and the rice might have been the reason for his son’s death, Mr. Manivannan alleged. In his petition, he charged the doctors of the Sholavandan Government Hospital with negligence.
He had submitted representations to the Director of the Social Welfare Department and the Vadipatti Tahsildar, but no action was initiated against the anganwadi staff, he claimed.
Mr. Manivannan, in his petition, demanded action against the anganwadi staff, whom he held responsible for his son’s death, besides seeking compensation. Justice T. Raja adjourned the case by two weeks.
