23 fall ill after consuming MDM, hospitalised

OST Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Sep 7
As if recent mid day meal mishaps in the state were not enough, 23 students of Jayadev Uparsahi Primary School on the outskirts of the capital city under Balianta police limits fell ill and were hospitalized on Friday after consuming stale leftover kheer in their mid day meals.
While six of them have been admitted to the Public Health Centre at Adaspur, others have been admitted to the Community Health Centre at Balakati. Two children of the local anganwadi centre and a guardian of the kids have also fallen sick after consuming the same mid day meal.
However, attending physician Manoj Tripathy stated that the students were out of danger and their condition was stable.
According to School Inspector Balaram Mishra, 35 students were in attendance in the school on Friday. Soya bean chunk curry and rice which was to be served for the mid day meal on that day was not cooked and students were served with kheer that was left over from a feast held a day before at school headmaster Laxmidhar Jena’s residence.
While some students complained of giddiness, head reeling, vomiting and fullness of stomach after consuming the food, some others even fainted.
Tension mounted in the area following the incident. Local BJD MLA Arabinda Dhali, sub-collector Subrat Kumar Panda and several other officials rushed to the hospital and enquired about the condition of the students.
Meanwhile, headmaster Jena has been suspended on charges of irregularities in cooking of mid day meals and serving of stale to students, said sub-collector Panda.