Varsity students hospitalised due to food poisoning

About 22 students of a private university were admitted to a local hospital after they complained of food poisoning and abdomen pain in the state capital Raipur here today.
Nearly two dozen students of Mats University Aarang campus, who stay in its hostel within the institution's premises, were brought to Narayana Hospital this morning with pain in the abdomen and dehydration complaints, a doctor from the hospital told PTI.
The condition of students was stable and few of them were discharged after primary treatment, the doctor said.
Contaminated food or water is the reason behind the illness, he said.
However, the university administration rejected any problems with water and food served at the hostel and claimed that students would have consumed food from outside.

"Nearly 200 students were residing at an institute's hostel and all of them were consuming the same food. If the food was infected, other students too would have suffered the same consequences," MATS University Registrar Gokul Panda told PTI.

It is possible that sick students may have consumed some outside food or drunk water outside which affected them, he said.
However, some of students told reporters that they had complained a number of times to the university about the low quality of food served in the hostel, but they never heard their woes.
"We have complained several times about the quality of food and water at the hostel to the administration but instead of addressing our problems they threatened to fail us in the exams if we raise such issues," a girl student said on condition of anonymity.