• Abhijit Nath, NET Correspondent, Tripura 

Agartala, July 16, 2022 : At least 35 students of a government school in Tripura’s Chawmanu under Longtharai Valley sub-division of Dhalai district fell sick after consuming ‘Kichuri’ as a mid-day meal on Saturday. However, the condition of the students are well at present while most of them are discharged from the local hospital.

Reportedly, around 35 students feel sick after consuming mid-day meal ‘Khichuri’ at Chawmanu Government English medium school in Dhanyaram Karbari Para under Longtharai Valley sub-division. It is learned that after the class, the students sit and eat the khichuri of the mid-day meal. In the first phase, those who ate it from KG Nursery to Class II did not feel so bad, but in the second phase, the third and fourth class students felt a bad smell in the khichuri while eating. After eating, some of their heads started spinning and started vomiting. The sick students were immediately shifted to Chawmanu Primary Health Centre for treatment. The rest of the children were released after first aid, but 26 seriously ill students are undergoing treatment.

On hearing the news, Amartya Roy Barman, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Longtharai Valley sub-division rushed to the spot. He ordered an investigation after visiting the Primary Health Centre and the school. Bindu Lal Tripura, in-charge of the school, said that she was in front when the mid-day meal was served. The students complained of the bad smell of the khichuri and refused to eat it. Later she himself ate a little. But she did not admit whether the food was smelly. According to her, when one student claimed he was suffering from a headache, the rest of the students also started saying the same thing.

The question is, why didn’t the teachers check the quality of the food eaten by the teachers after the mid-day meal was prepared? Who would be responsible for a major accident? Ever since the incident, there has been anger among the guardians of the locality. According to the source, it is believed that this incident is due to food poisoning.

In a reaction, local MLA Shambhu Lal Chakma said that the children were admitted to primary health centre and at present, many have been discharged. The entire situation is under control and there is nothing to fear.