Noting can be more shameful and disgusting than people in a bid to make few extra buck literally indulge in killing people not, by bullet or sword but by feeding masses adulterated, rotten and poisonous food. The death of 23 children in Bihar put our heads hang in shame.
It
is shocking to learn that the Principal of the School was told by the cook that
there was something that smelt foul in the cooking oil. Instead of examining
the complaint of the cook, the Principal ignored it. The result: innocent
children died. The edible contained poisonous substance, a fact that the
Principal of the School perhaps was aware of.
Media
have been reporting since long about the substandard meals being fed to school
going children in the mid-day meal scheme not only in Bihar but in other parts
of the country as well. Rotten wheat and rice are bought by the education
department and the school administration to feed children just to make extra
money. Every other day we get news that children fall sick after eating mid-day
meal in school.
As
I write this column, there is a report from Tamil Nadu where 147 girl students
fell sick after eating mid-day meal in school.
What
prevents the education department and the school administration to see to it
that meals are prepared in hygienic condition and that food grains and edible
oil not fit for human consumption are not bought from the market?
There
is argument that funds made available for the mid-day meal programme are not
sufficient to ensure quality meal. I assume this to be an alibi of the
government officials. Even if funds are raised, the thieves would continue to
pocket the money and feed children substandard meals. Take the case of Indian
Railways, passengers are charged for the meal and in trains like Rajdhani and
Shatabdi the food charges are included in the fare. What happens in Railways,
meals are substandard and on occasion we hear the news that dead bugs and
cockroaches are found in the meal served in the train. Therefore it is wrong to
say that if more funds are granted and money for each meal prepared for
children is raised the quality of food would improve.
The
sickness of mind of the people and the Indian society at large are responsible
for such ghastly incidents. Politicians are silent or at best have expressed
token concern for the tragedy. What prevents the government at the Centre and
the government in the states to book the guilty of supplying unfit grains for
human consumption? Why the government does not take strict action against the
suppliers of food grains and oil to school.
In
case of the tragedy in Bihar, it is said that the supply came from the husband
of the principal of the school where children died. It is beyond comprehension
to think that a normal human being can think of supplying poisonous edible oil
to a school where his wife is the principal. This can happen in India only.
Even
general public including VIPs and the rich section of the society are
vulnerable to consuming adulterated food. Only a couple months back, the
Supreme Court asked the Centre to file a reply on the complaint of spurious
milk being supplied in the market. Milk is prepared from detergent powder and
some other ingredients that are injurious to health. Green vegetables are
treated with chemicals to make it look greener to lure buyers as quality stuff.
Fruits are artificially ripened with carbide smoke that is dangerous for
health. The flour and rice mills some time use rotten grain grind and then
supply it in the market for consumption.
We
need Parliament and the State Assembly to enact new legislations to punish all
such criminals who are merchants of death. They should be punished with death
penalty or life imprisonment for life for putting human life at risk.
~R. K. Sinha
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