India Today: Another school meal shocker: One litre milk for 81 children in UP

VARANASI: A litre of milk was allegedly diluted with copious amounts of water to meet the nutritional needs of 81 children at a primary

school

in UP’s Sonbhadra district on Wednesday, reminiscent of the midday meal controversy stoked by a viral video purportedly showing students of a school in Mirzapur having

roti

with salt.

As news of the latest midday meal sham spread on social media, the district education authorities laid the blame at the school’s door. Basic shiksha adhikari Gorakhnath Patel, who visited Salaibanva Primary School in Chopan block on Thursday, held the staff there accountable for the lapse. “Appropriate action will be taken against the erring staff after a probe,” he told TOI later.

The children at the school were to be served tehri (vegetable mixed rice) and milk on Wednesday. But since only a litre of milk was available in the kitchen, water was generously used to make up for the shortfall. Dev Kalia, a member of the Kota gram panchayat, reported the alleged adulteration.

“According to midday meal norms, each student of a primary school should get 150ml of milk. In junior high school, the prescribed quantity for every child is 200ml,” Patel said. “It was sheer carelessness on the staff’s part not to arrange the required quantity of milk for the children. More milk was arranged and served to the children after the lapse was brought to our notice.”

In August, a video purportedly showing “roti-namak” being served to children at a primary school in Mirzapur district had triggered a furore. The administration accused the journalist who shot the video and the person who had invited him there of criminal conspiracy to malign the government’s image.