Merchants of Death II- Bihar Officials Hands Stained In Blood

There is no change in the ground situation in Bihar even after ten days of the tragedy in which 23 school children died of poisoned food. Reports from Bihar suggest that the midday meals continue to be unfit and unhygienic that children eat in schools. The least the government should have done was to examine stocks of cereals and edible oil stored in schools for the midday meals; throw and destroy the rotten and contaminated materials immediately. The government should close all kitchens in schools till good quality food grains, edible oil and pulses are bought and supplied to schools under strict supervision. In many schools children have stopped eating midday meals. Many students have stopped going to schools and those who attend classes bring their own home cooked Tiffin.

The state government seems busy in conducting inquiry into the incident. Initial forensic reports confirm presence of poisonous substance in the oil used in cooking of meals on July 9 2013 in the school.

Latest reports from Bihar on the state of affairs in the state are shocking again. The government surrendered a huge amount of Rs. 462 crores to the Centre that was granted for building kitchens and buying utensils for the midday meal scheme. What face the Bihar Government has now to defend itself. It is a big amount that could have provided hygienic cooking conditions in  well equipped school kitchen.

The money was surrendered because the officials who were supposed to disburse the amount perhaps failed strike deal with education department staff for cut on the amount that would go to particular village or district.

According to a newspaper report, the state government sat on the fund for five years without spending a single rupee on upgrading the school kitchens in the state.

I am not surprised if other States in the country too failed to utilize the money for upgrading the school kitchens for midday meal scheme. Visuals shown on television news channels are a clear proof of criminal negligence in so much so that in majority of the schools in various states across the country meals are cooked most unhygienic conditions besides using rotten and substandard materials to cook the meals.

Coming close to the hills of children killed and taken ill after eating midday meals, in the national capital Delhi, children are taken ill after consuming iron and folic acid supplements given free by the Delhi Government. It is yet another racket of the government. Medicines worth crores of rupees must have been bought from wholesale dealers with a cut going to the pockets of the babus and the ministers. The Health Minister of Delhi says that it is normal to have side effects of iron and folic acid tablets at the initial stage. Once the body gets adjusted there will be no side effect of the medicines.

One has to verify if the medicines being supplied to school children are genuine and not spurious. If the medicines purchased from the market are not from the ‘expired lot’ with label changed to show new expiry dates. The government must reassure itself before continuing the scheme of iron and folic acid supplements for children.

~R. K. Sinha