Patna: The number of young children killed after eating contaminated mid-day meal at a government school in Bihar reached 22 on Wednesday amid reports that traces of an agricultural insecticide were found in the meals served to them. Public protests turned violent and a fierce political blame game began.
At Dharmsati village in Saran (Chapra) district’s Mashrakh block, open grounds around the primary school the dead children attended became an unexpected burial site as wailing parents laid to final rest their dead kids, all aged below 10 and ranging from Class I to V.
At the Patna Medical College and Hospital, 25 children from the school who also ate the mid-day meal were struggling for life in the ICU of the paediatric department.
Bihar smells plot
Facing all-round criticism over the deaths of 22 school children after they consumed mid-day meals at a village government school at Saran, the state government said it strongly suspected a conspiracy angle behind the tragedy.
Bihar education minister P.K. Shahi openly directed his suspicion at an Opposition party and did not rule out a political conspiracy behind the tragedy.
“The role of school teacher Meena Kumari and her husband Arjun Rai, an active member of a political party who owns a grocery shop at Dharmasati Bazaar from where the grains and oil were purchased for the school meals, are being probed. Both Rai and his relative Dhruv Rai are close to a very senior leader of this party. I do not think this is a mere coincidence,“ said Shahi amid charges of politicising the tragic incident.
RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav hit out at the remarks, alleging that by trying to politicise the issue, the JD(U) was diverting attention.
“You are the government and it is the duty of your child development project officer to do quality check of food served in mid-day meal scheme ... Instead of performing the task sincerely you are blaming RJD?” Yadav asked.
“There are so many people linked with the party (RJD) at different levels. Has RJD stopped you from inquiring against anybody? Are we running the government in the state?” Yadav countered reacting to Shahi's accusations.
While a forensic report for the cause of the deaths was awaited, a preliminary investigation reportedly found that the meals had traces of organo-phosphate, an insecticide used on paddy and wheat crops, which might have come because the grains were not washed before being cooked.
The viscera of the 16 children who died at Chapra was sent to the PMCH for examination. Most students at this school, set up three years ago, come from minority and extremely backward communities.
The Congress meanwhile refrained from making any direct attack on the Nitish government but chose to attack the BJP instead and criticised it for “playing politics” on the issue.
The National Human Rights Commission has meanwhile ordered principal secretary of Bihar education department and Saran SP to submit a report in the matter within four weeks.
“They have also been directed to inform whether any legal action has been taken in the matter. The officers have been asked to inform the Commission the compensation, if any, proposed to be granted to the next of kin of the deceased,“ the statement released on Wednesday said.