Dead lizard in mid-day meal; 79 fall ill in Rajasthan

In another shocking case of mid-day meal horror, a dead lizard was found in the meal served to students in Rajasthan's Bhilwara district leading to at least 79 children falling ill on Tuesday. All the students are now out of danger.

According to police, the incident occurred at the Upper Primary Government School in Banera town in Bhilwara, some 250 km from Jaipur.

"After having the mid-day meal, several students, after seeing a dead lizard in the pot in which the meal was cooked, started complaining of nausea and stomach pain. It created a panic situation," said an education department official.

"The students were rushed to various hospitals in the area from where they were discharged after primary treatment," said Bhilwara's chief medical and health officer (CMHO) R.C. Samaria.

Samaria added that the condition of all the children who consumed the meal was out of danger.

Bhilwara District Collector Onkar Singh said that the children of the higher primary school in Baneda complained of nausea after having the meal. The Collector said he ordered examination of the meal, after which the school staff found a dead lizard in it.

He said that the school's headmaster, Kailash Garg, and the physical trainer, Dinesh, who was also mid-day meal in-charge, have been suspended following the incident, while three men involved in cooking the meal have been sacked.

The Additional Block Education Officer Ladu has also been removed from his post and put under APO (Awaiting Posting Order) status.

Several incidents have recently been reported of students of government schools falling ill after consuming contaminated mid-day meals in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and some other states.u00a0