NHRC ensures Rs.1.60 lakh payout for mid-day meal poisoning victims in MP

In two cases of mid-day meal poisoning, the National Human Rights Commission's (NHRC) persistence resulted in a payment of a sum of Rs.1.60 lakh as monetary relief to three victims by the Government of Madhya Pradesh and ten by the Government of NCT of Delhi.

The amount included Rs.60 thousand for three girl students of a Secondary School in Village Mathdevai of District Siwani, Madhya Pradesh and Rs.1 lakh to ten girl students of Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Sector-20, Rohini, Delhi.

In the food poisoning incident involving the Madhya Pradesh school, 85 children had fallen ill, three of them seriously, after eating the mid-day meal on the 2nd February, 2012. The meal was prepared by the Durga Self-Help Group. The three seriously ill students were referred to the hospital for further treatment by the Primary Health Centre.

The commission, on the basis of the material on record, observed that a criminal case under Sections 337/34 of IPC was registered against the cooks and departmental action taken against the teacher in-charge for the mid-day meal.

Therefore, the contention of the Madhya Pradesh Government to avoid liability on the basis of the technicalities of guidelines of Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, was untenable.

It said that the negligence of the public servant violated the human rights of the innocent children and hence it had to pay the monetary relief.

The mid-day meal poisoning incident in Delhi happened at Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Sector 20, Rohini on the 25th August, 2011 when ten students complained of stomachache after consuming meal supplied by an NGO M/s Royal Education and Social Welfare Society.

On the basis of the material on record, the Commission observed that a criminal case under Section 366 of IPC was registered against the meal supplier.

It also observed that the lives of the small children were put in danger through the supply of poisonous mid-day meal in a school under the supervision of the State authorities. The Government should not only take strong preventive measures to stop recurrence of such incidents.

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Having received no response to its notice to show cause why monetary relief be not recommended to the victim students, the Commission assumed that the Government had no views in the matter and recommended the relief of Rs.10 thousand each to the ten victim students.

In both the incidents a dead lizard was found in the mid-day meal and the issue was brought to the notice of the Commission by human rights activist, R.H. Bansal.