27 students fall ill after consuming mid-day meal in Rajasthan
What's the story
At least 27 students of a government school in Rajasthan's Kota district fell ill after consuming their mid-day meal on Monday. The affected students, who are all from Classes 1 to 8, complained of nausea, vomiting, stomach ache and dizziness. While all the children were reported to be stable, 21 were shifted to Kota for treatment due to severe complications.
Meal details
Students began showing symptoms after 2 hours
The incident took place at the Government Upper Primary School in Poonia Devli village, where 110 out of 130 students were present during lunch.
The mid-day meal, which included a pumpkin preparation, was served before the symptoms began.
However, about two hours later, many students started showing symptoms of suspected food poisoning.
Medical response
School principal on incident
School principal Chandra Prakash said the school was dismissed when several students complained of feeling unwell.
Those with severe symptoms were immediately rushed to Kota city for treatment.
Seventeen students were shifted to the government-run New Medical College Hospital, while four others were shifted to a private hospital.
All students are now stable and under medical observation.
Official visit
Inquiry launched to determine cause of illness
District Education Officer (Elementary) Rup Singh Meena visited the hospital to assess the students' condition.
He said most of them were stable and under observation, with only a few needing formal admission.
The mid-day meal was prepared by Annapurna Sahakari Samiti for eight or nine schools, but no other complaints have been reported from those institutions.
Meena said it was too early to say conclusively that the mid-day meal alone had caused the illness.