School in Odisha capital shuns mid-day meal after insects detected in rice

Reported by Santosh Jagdev
Bhubaneswar, July 10:

Mid-day meal could not be served to students of a primary school under the Badagada police limits in Odisha’s capital city today after insects were found in the rice.

The mid-day meal was prepared and supplied to the Badagada Sabarsahi Primary School by a reputed private organisation.

“Mid-day meal was not served to any student at after insects were detected in the rice pot, ” the headmistress of the school Bijaylaxmi Dei said.

The mid-day meal was returned immediately to Akshay Patra Foundation (APF), a not-for-profit organisation which is widely known for providing hygenic food to school students across the country, she said.

School Inspection Supervisor of the Foundatiom Kim Bahadur Thapa, who rushed to the school after receiving the complaint, refuted allegations that the insects were present in the rice cooked at their kitchen.

Stating that the organisation is well known for hygienic preparation of food, the official said the school’s container into which the rice prepared by them was dumped earlier in the day, may have contained the insects.

However, when the parents of the students held the organisation responsible for the lapse, the APF official Thapa assured them that an inquiry will be conducted by the organisation and stringent action will be taken if any person from their organisation is found guilty.

APF has been entrusted by the Odisha Government to supply hygienic and nutritional mid-day meals through its centralised kitchen to nearly 45,000 children across 190 schools in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. The Foundation began its operation in the twin cities only yesterday.