Mumbai: Heaps of ration found rotting inside Malvani school

Bags of food grains were found in an appalling condition inside school

Viral photos and videos of heaps of ration rotting inside a Malvani civic school have sparked concern among parents. These were bags of food grains, that were to be distributed among children under the midday meal scheme. The incident came to light after the school opened for admissions and a few locals recorded it on camera.

Interestingly, this is a BMC school located at gate number 7 in Malvani, Malad, which teaches both Hindi and Urdu medium students. While the school has been shut amid the lockdown, dry ration under the scheme was provided to the administration so that it could be distributed to parents. For each student, the ration includes 10 kg rice and two different types of lentils, 5 kg each. Left unattended, the whole batch was found rotting in one corner of a room.

An RTI activist, Sharique Shaikh, was approached by the locals, after which he submitted a complaint letter to the BMC. Shaikh has even sought strict action against school authorities for "robbing kids of food", a basic necessity, which could have helped the families struggling in the pandemic. "I was shocked. When locals questioned the school authorities, they were told that the dry ration was received in April at a time when the school was shut for summer vacations and that there was nobody available to distribute it. But the least they could have done was to store the grains properly so it could have helped these underprivileged kids and their families," said Shaikh.

Shaikh is now demanding action against teachers and the principal or the administration responsible for this.

When contacted, BMC education officer Mahesh Palkar said, "Due to summer vacations and strict lockdown in April, it was difficult for the schools to distribute dry ration immediately. However, the department was issued clear guidelines on how to store the grains effectively. We will look into the matter."