Tatsat Chronicle Magazine

25 Students Fall Ill After Having Mid-Day Meal at a School in Jharkhand

June 18, 2022
Mid-Day Meal

At least 25 students have fallen ill after eating lunch at a government school in Ranchi where a dead lizard was found, school officials said Friday. Officials said the incident happened on Thursday afternoon at the government school in Silli Block and the students were admitted to the local Community Health Centre (CHC). The school served lunch to a total of 92 students in classes 1 to 8.

School headmaster Dilip Mahto said, “When dal (pulses) was being served some students had claimed that there was a dead lizard in the container. The distribution of dal was immediately stopped. There was no complaint of any health complications by the students when the school got over for the day”.

He said that after the students returned home, about 25 of them were brought to the CHC by their parents for health issues. Silli block education officer Sudama Mishra said that in the afternoon three students came to the health centre with complaints of nausea and vomiting and then other students came to the clinic.

“When I reached the hospital in the evening there were 10 students there. They were released with precautionary medicines by night,” he said.

Mishra said he called a school management committee meeting on Friday to discuss the matter. If negligence is found, action will be taken against those responsible, he added.

Police said no complaints were registered regarding the incident. Vivek Kumar, a general physician at the health centre said students had arrived with symptoms of vomiting, sore throat, stomach ache and nausea. However, there was no severity and they appeared frightened.