Priyanka Gandhi flays UP govt over roti, salt in mid-day meal in Mirzapur school

Flaying the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over students being served roti with salt in mid-day meal in a school here, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday said that the treatment of the government towards the children is condemnable.

Taking to Twitter, she said: "Students are being served salt and rotis in mid-day meals in a school in Mirzapur. This is the state of affairs of BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. The facilities provided by the government are becoming poor and such treatment towards children is condemnable."

Her comments came after children in a primary school in Hinauta village were served rotis and salt instead of vegetable or pulses along with milk and fruits for their lunch as part of the mid-day meal scheme on Thursday.

After being intimated about it, district authorities called it "a serious lapse" and have initiated an inquiry into the incident at Siyur primary school in Hinauta village. A teacher has also been suspended in this regard.

While several children at the school claimed they had not received any milk too during the meal, the cook at the school, an elderly lady, claimed that she was provided just half a kilogram of potatoes to feed all the children in the school.

Blaming teachers for the mismanagement, Mirzapur District Magistrate (DM) Anurag Patel said: "As per the orders by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath the menu of mid-day meals across the districts is fixed. They are also given fruits and milk on some days. But these incidents happen due to the lapse of teachers and supervisory staff."

"We have suspended the teacher responsible and an investigation has been launched in the matter. It is true that today the students got just plain chappatis and are being forced to eat them with salt because of lack of vegetables. This is a serious lapse," he added.