Dog licks mid-day meal prepared for students, workers still serve same curry to 78 students in Chhattisgarh's Balodabazar

78 school children in Chhattisgarh's Balodabazar were administered an anti-rabies vaccine. The reason: they were served a mid-day meal that was contaminated by a stray dog.

 

The shocking incident reportedly happened on Tuesday, 29 July at a government school in Lachhanpur village in the Palari block of Balodabazar. A self-help group has been assigned to cook and serve the mid-day meals to the students of the school. On Tuesday, the cooks had prepared a vegetable curry to be served for lunch and left it near the kitchen area. A stray dog arrived, sensing the aroma of the food and licked it, according to some students. The vessel was half-covered with a plate, but the dog did manage to get to the curry through the gap, students claimed.

 

The children quickly flagged the incident, but the dish was not disposed of by the concerned people and was still served. The self-help group members insisted that the curry was not sniffed or licked by the dog despite protests by teachers and some students who said otherwise, the Times Of India (TOI) said in a report. The same food was served to 78 students in classes 6, 7 and 8.

 

The issue exploded when the children returned home and reported it to their parents. Angry parents informed the entire village of the development and confronted the school staff along with School Management Committee (SMC) members. Later, all children who had eaten the food were taken to the local medical centre and administered the first dose of the anti-rabies vaccine, the daily said.

 

Following the uproar at a village-school meeting, 78 students were taken to a local health centre, where medical officer Dr. Veena Verma, citing pressure from parents and village representatives, said she administered the vaccine as a precaution. 

 

As part of government action, the sub-divisional magistrate and block education officer visited the school to record statements. While students, teachers, parents, and committee members appeared before the officials, members of the self-help group, identified as the Jai Laxmi self-help group, reportedly didn't appear.

India