Mid-day meal horror in UP: Principal & 4 others arrested after rat found in Dal

A day after a rat was found in the mid-day meal served to students in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar, principal of the school and four others has been arrested. As per news agency PTI, on Tuesday morning, UP Police has booked the Principal and 4 others after 9 students were hospitalized allegedly due to contaminated meal.

Mid-Day meal horror: 9 kids hospitalised after rat found in dal served for lunch

Rat found in mid-day meal dal

In a shocking case of mid-day meal apathy, a rat was found on Tuesday in the mid-day meal served to school students in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar. Sources report that nine children and a teacher have been hospitalised after consuming the meal served at Janta Inter-college.  The food had been given to students studying in classes six to eight.

Sources report that the area's Basic Shiksha officer has initiated an investigation into the NGO - Jan Kalyan Sanstha Committee which had provided the food. The rat was reportedly found in the dal container served to the students. While the students and the teacher were immediately rushed to the hospital, sources report that the patients are now better.

Sonabhadra school feeds '1 lt milk mixed with a bucket of water' to 85 school children

Mirzapur's Mid-Day Apathy

Previously on August 23, a school in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur had caught the media's attention when it was found that students were being fed a paltry meal of rotis and salt as a part of mid-day meals. Over a hundred school students from class 1 to 8 in Uttar Pradesh lacked a proper meal and ultimately had to eat just Rotis and salt, as revealed by a local reporter. After the case was exposed by the journalist who covered ‘Midday Meal Apathy’ in the municipal school, an FIR had been filed against him which led to huge uproar. The government assured that strict action will be taken against those responsible.

UP: FIR against journo who exposed 'rotis and salt' in mid-day meal

What is the Mid-Day Meal Scheme?

The Mid-day Meal Scheme is a school meal program by the Government of India. The scheme aims to better the nutritional standing of school-age children nationwide. As a part of the scheme, children are provided with lunch. Both primary and upper-primary students are beneficiaries of this scheme.