Pardeep Sharma
KATHUA, Sept 14: The lapses and causal approach of authorities towards the mid day meal scheme have come to fore in Kathua district where during last two days two incidents took place due to the negligence of the school management entrusted with the job of preparing the mid day meal for the children.
Quick on the heals of serving the poisonous food to the students of Government Middle School Kalibari Kathua yesterday after a girl found a dead lizard mixed in the mid day meal which was served to her in a plate yesterday, a cooker blasted during the cooking of mid day meal today in the Government Middle School, Dabobal in Ghatti area of Kathua district today.
There was a narrow escape for nearly one hundred children studying in the School. The incident took place during the morning in the premises of the School when a service maid was cooking the food in Kitchen shed. She put cooker on the stove for cooking and came out of the room. Soon after the blast took place, the school children along with staff ran helter -skelter in panic.
The students and teachers earlier apprehended that it was a bomb blast.
But after verification they came to know that the cooker has blasted and the meals which were being prepared in it were scattered in the room. The school Headmaster Pawan Kumar said that no one was injured in the incident. He thanked God that all students and staff are safe. He said the service maid was also not into kitchen otherwise it would have been a catastrophe.
He said the mid day meal has become a headache for the school teachers and the education is also disturbed due to it. The Government needs to supply the mid day meal from other sources, he added.
It may be recalled that incident of serving poisonous food took place in Government Middle School Kalibari yesterday.
The parents of the students led by BSP Leader Som Raj Magotra held a protest demonstration against the school administration and raised slogans against them. They were demanding the transfer of whole staff of the Kalibari school who are responsible for negligence and irresponsible attitude of the school staff was the main reason for serving poisonous food to the students. Magotra alleged that the school staff showed irresponsible attitude towards the students and did not bother to shift them to hospital. The parents took their children to hospital but school administration did not pay attention. He said that they are not satisfied with the working of the school staff and over stay of teachers has been cause of their arrogance. He said most of the students belong to poor and Scheduled Caste families who have no money to send their children to private institutions. He said there is not any male staff in the school. Only female staff can not handle any untoward situation.
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