‘Worm-infested’ mid-day meal curry raises hackles of students, guardians in Odisha

Tension prevailed on the premises of Paramananda Project Primary school in Chandabali block of Bhadrak district on Saturday allegedly after worms were found wriggling in the soya curry served in the mid-day meal (MDM) to students. 
Irate over the incident, local residents and students locked up the school gate.

As per reports, soya curry was served in MDM to students. But the students were allegedly aghast to see ‘tiny worms’ swarming the curry. They discarded the meal and immediately left for home in a huff.

As guardians of the children got to know about the incident, they trooped to the school and locked up the school gate in protest, demanding action against the school authorities. They also staged a sit-in for some time.

Dhananjay Pradhan, a student,lamented, “When we saw small worms in the curry, we immediately informed our headmaster. We wanted to go home for lunch after discarding the noon meal. But the headmaster did not allow us to go home. We demand quality food, not worm-infested meals.”  

On the other hand, the headmaster of the school denied the allegations. 

Also Read: Egg missing from MDM menu in Odisha schools raises concerns 

As for the issue, Block Education Officer, Subhendu Maharaj said, “After receiving the allegations, I assured the students and guardians that action will be taken in 15 days as per the guidelines. Sudden action can’t be taken. If anything has happened, a report will be sought.”

He also added that guardians also put forth several other grievances pertaining to the school, and the headmaster will be questioned about some old stock of rice at the school. Headmasters in the block will now be instructed to take proper care of the MDM stocks, he noted.

Report by Trilochan Sahoo