The Chhattisgarh High Court has directed the state government to pay 84 students ₹25,000 each in a month after they ate mid-day meals soiled by a dog at a middle school in Balodabazar-Bhatapara district last month.
A division bench consisting of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Bibhu Datta Guru, in its Tuesday order, condemned the government's laxity and called upon the officials to be more vigilant and careful in serving mid-day meal to children.
As per the PTI report, the court rejected the contention of the state that no compensation was required as the students had already been administered three doses of anti-rabies vaccine and were subsequently certified as medically fit. The ruling came after the court took suo motu (on its own) cognizance of the issue as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and requested an affidavit from the government.
Following an official report by an inquiry, the incident took place on July 28 at Government Middle School, Lachchhanpur, when food cooked under the mid-day meal scheme by a self-help group (SHG) was spiked by a dog. In spite of the advice from teachers not to serve the contaminated food, the SHG reportedly disobeyed the instruction, and the spoiled meal was served.
Later medical examinations proved all the impacted students healthy and under constant monitoring by Primary Health Centre personnel. The SHG was excluded from future government contracts, and several school administrators, such as the in-charge principal, cluster head, and teachers, were suspended on August 6.
The Directorate of School Education has already issued hygiene protocols to district authorities, mandating periodic safety checks on food cooked under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman Yojana.
In its order, the bench declared that the state was solely responsible for the lapse and ordered immediate pecuniary relief to every student, further adding that it hoped the government would take firmer precautions to avert such accidents in the future.
