It looks like the Delhi government has not learnt any lessons. In a third incident of its kind reported in the national capital in less than a month, numerous students and one staff member were rushed to a hospital in Delhi after what seems like an apparent case of food poisoning. 13 children, all below the age of 7, and a staff member fell sick after consuming the mid-day meals at the anganwadi centre in Delhi's Dwarka area, the Indian Express reported.
The cops reportedly stated that the children began vomiting and some even fell unconscious after having boiled gram and rice as part of the government-sanctioned free meal scheme. They were taken to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital in Delhi.
One would think that food being served to children would come with the assurance of safety. But that has not been the case. And sadly enough, this is the third such incident in the national capital reported this month alone.
Two weeks ago, 30 students from a government school in Delhi's Narela area fell sick after having mid-day meals which were found to have been cooked with a dead lizard. A few days prior to that, two young girls had fallen ill for the exact same reason.
Around the time the second incident was reported, Education Minister and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia made some strong statements about ensuring the safety of mid-day meals. Sisodia had sought meetings with government school authorities in Delhi and NGOs on the preparation of the food served to students.
Furthermore, the Delhi government was also in talks with an NGO, Akshay Patra, to revamp the mid-day meal scheme in the city following the second incident, ToI had reported. But that has clearly not shaped up in time to prevent the third incident leaving over a dozen sick.
While the concerned authorities in Delhi seem to be dragging their feet along to ensure hygienic food is the served to children, there seems to be a general lax in the attitude when it comes to the government's midday meals scheme across the board.
Food poisoning through mid-day meals has been reported ever since the government introduced the scheme over two decades ago. The starkest one in the last few years was the 2013 incident in Bihar where pesticide-contaminated meals resulted in the death of 23 children and left many others battling for life.
A CAG report in 2015 even highlighted the same, but it seems to have had little to no effect on the lackadaisical attitude of concerned authorities, with Delhi currently leading the way.
