Bihar (The Stellar News): On Wednesday, 37 children and a cook fell sick hours after consuming mid-day meal at a at a government school in village in Pakaridayal subdivision of Bihar’s East Champaran district.
On Thursday Pakaridayal’s sub divisional magistrate (SDM) Kumar Ravindra confirmed the incident and said as many as 37 children belonging to Rajkiya Madhya Vidyalay at Sishani village complained of uneasiness and stomach ache hours after they ate their mid-day meal in their village school on Wednesday.
“Soon after the matter came to our notice, we immediately arranged to hospitalise them at subdivision hospital in Pakaridayal from their houses in the evening, where they are undergoing treatment”, said SDM, adding that the further investigation into the matter is underway.
The condition of the students is said to be stable. “Prima facie, the illness appears to be caused by food poisoning. These students have been kept under our active observation for 24 hours. However, the exact cause could be known after the examination of the food sample”, said East Champaran’s civil surgeon, Anjani Kumar.
Meanwhile, the officials suspect that the poor quality of the cooking oil could be the reason behind students’ condition. “The cook had suspected that there was some problem with edible oil. District education officer (DEO) is investigating the matter and stern action would be taken against those who are responsible for the incident”, said SDM Kumar.
Report: Deepanjot Kaur (Under Training)
