31 students fall ill after mid-day meal in Delhi school

NEW DELHI - As many as 31 students of a government-aided school in the capital fell ill Wednesday after eating mid-day meals provided by the school, police said.

The incident took place in Baba Nebraj Secondary School in south Delhi’s Jal Vihar area around 10.30 a.m. The students of Classes 1-5 fell ill after consuming daal-chawal served in their school. The school has classes till Class 12.

According to the police, some of the students reported nausea and started vomiting while others reported of stomach pain. School authorities immediately rushed them to a corporation hospital from where 27 children were referred to the Safdarjung hospital while the rest of them were discharged around 4 p.m.

‘The children suffered stomachache, nausea and vomiting and were reportedly affected by the consumption of bad food,’ said Safdarjung Hospital additional medical superintendent Sudhir Chandra.

School principal Rukmini Kesarwani said: ‘The students complained soon after consuming food. We are looking into the matter. We are cooperating with police in their investigations.’

Rahul, a student, said, ‘Before we started having our lunch I told my friend something was wrong with the dal.’

Gayatri, another victim, said, ‘The rice we ate was different from what we get usually.’

Director of Higher Education Chandra Bhushan said sample of the food items were sent for tests.

‘We will take proper action after the results of the tests are out. We have already issued a notice to the service provider who supplied the food,’ Bhushan said.

Meanwhile, police have registered a case of negligence against food supplier Manjeet Singh at the Lajpat Nagar police station and were investigating the matter.