Bihar mid-day meal tragedy: BJP calls Nitish Kumar 'insensitive CM'

As the death toll of children who fell ill after having mid-day meal at a state-run primary school in Bihar's Saran district rose to 20 on Wednesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party has called Nitish Kumar an "insensitive Chief Minister".

BJP leader Giriraj Singh pointed out that Nitish Kumar "didn't even come to visit these children. He is an insensitive Chief Minister".

Terming the incident as extremely unfortunate, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the Bihar Chief Minister should visit the children.

"This is extremely unfortunate. The Chief Minister should visit the children. It's his duty. He should conduct an inquiry into the incident and fix accountability," Hussain added.

Hussain earlier disclosed that the party had reports about the improper functioning of the scheme in the region.

"We had information of various complaints on the mid-day meal scheme in Bihar. We couldn't even think that children will die in such a way. This is a tragic incident. The Bihar government must take a note of it and take stringent action against the guilty," said Hussain

According to reports, 27 children are undergoing treatment at Patna Medical College And Hospital. They are admitted to hospital after consuming mid-day meal served to them at a government primary school in Dahrmasati village at Mashrakh block, about 25 Kms from Chhapra on Tuesday.

All children are reportedly between 8 and 12 years. They fell ill soon after eating the meal which consisted rice, pulse and soybeans.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a high level enquiry into the incident. A forensic team will assist in the probe which will be conducted jointly by Saran Divisional Commissioner and DIG.

Kumar has also announced a compensation of two lakh rupees each to the families of the deceased. Union Human Resource Development Ministry has sent a senior official to Chhapra to take stock of the situation.