Dead rat in midday meal in U.P.

8 students fall ill; FIR filed against teachers and NGO

In yet another bad news for the Uttar Pradesh government’s midday meal programme, a dead rat was found in the food meant to be served for the children of Class VI to VIII in a government inter-college in Muzaffarnagar on Tuesday.

Eight students fell ill and were taken to the government hospital.

The district administration has registered an FIR against the NGO designated to supply the food and the erring principal and teachers.

The incident took place in Janta Inter College in Pachenda village of Mustafabad when students were being served urad-chana dal.

Though some media reports suggested that some children consumed the contaminated food, District Magistrate Selva Kumari J. denied it. “Thankfully, none of the students consumed the contaminated food. As they felt nauseated after seeing the rat, they were taken to the hospital for a check-up as a precautionary step.”

She said an FIR has been registered against Jan Kalyan Sanstha, a Hapur-based NGO, which supplied the meal.

Later, the names of the principal and some teachers were added in the FIR.