Ayodhya’s District Magistrate has suspended the principal of a primary school after a video of children allegedly being served salt and boiled rice as mid-day meal at the school went viral on social media. A notice was also sent to the village head about the incident.
In the viral video, children can be seen eating boiled rice and salt while sitting on the floor. “Village head and teachers are not taking responsibility. Who is responsible then? Who will like to send their wards to such a school? Yogi Ji should also watch the video,” a person can be heard saying in the video. The video gives a tour of the premises with unclean floors, shows the menu chart of mid-day meals for each day and compares it with what has been served to the pupils. The Hindu cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video.
“After the matter came to my knowledge, I ordered the Basic Sikhsha Adhikari (BSA) to inquire into the whole incident, prime facia ordered for the suspension of the principal and sent a notice to the village head. We will take strict action against the people responsible, who don’t follow rules and menu chart during distribution of the meals in schools,” said DM Nitish Kumar.
It is not the first time that such a case related to primary schools has came to the limelight from the State. In Uttar Pradesh, 8,66,361 primary schools are given roughly ₹5 per student a day for mid-day meal.
