60 children fall ill after mid-day meal at school in Chhattisgarh, symptoms of food poisoning

At least 60 students of a government primary school were taken ill allegedly after consuming food under mid-day meal programme at a village in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district.

The students were admitted to Ambikapur district hospital with symptoms of food poisoning by the school authority on Saturday afternoon, Surguja Collector Bhim Singh said on Sunday.

As per the information, the students started vomiting and complained of nausea after eating the mid-day meal at the government primary school in Sundarpur village, about 5 km from Ambikapur town and nearly 350 km from Raipur, he said.

When the teachers and school Principal Indraprasad Sarathi noticed the deteriorating condition of children, they immediately admitted 60 students to Ambikapur, he said.

“The condition of children was (later) said to be normal and most of them have been discharged this morning,” the Collector said.

According to doctors, prima facie it appears that the food served to children at the school was raw and not completely cooked that led to food poisoning, he said.

The food samples have been sent for testing and the exact reason behind the incident will be known only after the reports are out, Singh said, adding, further action will be taken accordingly.

Meanwhile, the Collector has asked to withdraw the services of Durga Self-Help Group which was tasked with preparing mid-day meal at the school.