In another shocking incident, several children vomited and fainted after eating eggs at the Paramakudi Government Primary School in Tamil Nadu’s Ramanathapuram district.
On 3 February 2023, 12 students including eight boys and four girls complained of stomach pain, vomiting, and fainting after eating lunch consisting of eggs.
They were then immediately admitted to Paramakudi Government Hospital for treatment. Doctors said that the vomiting was caused by the consumption of undercooked eggs. The police also questioned students and teachers at the school and hospital.
Paramakudi Murugesan, a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), visited the Paramakudi Government Primary School in Ramanathapuram district following the incident. Assistant Collector Abtab Rasool examined the eggs and food items in the kitchen. The inspection was attended by Paramakudi City Council President Sethukarunanidhi, District Principal Education Officer Balamuthu, and others.
However, this isn’t the first instance reported in the last 2 years where government school children have fallen sick after having unhealthy/unhygienic food at their schools.
Substandard Meals Served In Schools?
Every once in a while, incidents of schoolchildren vomiting and fainting are reported in the news after the DMK government came to power. Here is a compilation of several such incidents.
On 10th September 2022, 47 students who ate midday meal scheme food at the Government High School in Mothakal village, near Tanipadi in Tiruvannamalai district, were admitted to a government hospital after vomiting and fainting in school. It was reported that dead lizards were found in poorly cooked food.
On May 31, 2022, three children had severe vomiting and diarrhea after eating the food given in the Anganwadi center in Thondaiman Nagar in Pudukottai. Beetles and worms were discovered in the food consumed by 50 Anganwadi students. All 50 children were later treated and tested at the Pudukottai government hospital.
On June 24, 2022, students at a government school near Ulundurpet in the Kallakurichi district experienced vomiting and fainting after consuming midday meal scheme food provided by the school. Over 30 students were admitted to the hospital.
On October 29, 2022, 15 students from a government school near Keezhpennathur in Tiruvannamalai district were admitted to Tiruvannamalai government hospital after complaining of vomiting and fainting. A lizard’s head was discovered in the food eaten by a class 10 student. The food was prepared for a total of 153 students are studying in the school.
On February 25, 2022, 25 students from the Athiya Nallur Panchayat Union Primary School in Puduchattaram, near Chidambaram, were admitted to the Chidambaram government hospital after fainting on the school. It was reported that the students were given rotten eggs.
On July 21, 2022, 27 students vomited and fainted after eating food served at a government school in Nagercoil. The incident happened in the Kavimani Desiya Vinayagam Pillai Girls Higher Secondary School located in Kotaru area of Nagercoil, Kanyakumari district, where more than 1300 school girls are studying.
On 10 September 2022, around 115 students of the government girls’ high school at Gandhi Nagar in Attur started vomiting and fainted allegedly after taking deworming tablets given by the health department.
On April 22, 2022, 39 government school students who ate midday meal food provided by Kandiyur Govt Middle School near Valangaiman, Tiruvarur District, were admitted to Tiruvarur government hospital with complaints of vomiting, diarrhea, and fainting.
On June 25, 2022, seven students at Karimangalatanur School vomited and fainted after eating the Midday Meal food. They were then treated in hospitals. Under the Barkur Union, 49 students attend Kuttur Panchayat Union Primary School, and 22 attend Karimangalatanur Panchayat Union Primary School.
These are just a few examples of incidents covered by news outlets and print media. There could be many incident across the state that could’ve gone unreported.
Will The DMK Government Take Corrective Action?
According to an RTI filing regarding the Tamil Nadu government’s procurement of eggs for the midday meal scheme, the DMK Stalin government has given contracts to the same companies that Stalin accused of corruption when he was in opposition.
விடியா திமுக அரசு கொள்முதல் செய்யும் ஒரு முட்டையின் விலை 5.25 (சத்துணவு திட்டத்தில் சராசரியாக 60 லட்சம் முட்டைகள் தேவை)
ஆனால் இன்றைய சந்தை விலை 4.5
What a Miracle?
விளக்கமளிக்குமா அரசு?#திராவிடமாடல்@Selvakumar_IN @ikkmurugan @annamalai_k pic.twitter.com/q5UqQ7cz8h
— Yuvaraj Ramalingam (@YuvarajPollachi) September 17, 2022
Despite the fact that the DMK has been in power for close to two years, no investigation into the AIADMK regime’s alleged egg procurement scandal has taken place. Furthermore, the RTI revealed that the DMK government has also awarded the egg tender to subsidiaries of a company that was fined for providing substandard items in the Tamil Nadu government’s “Pongal package” for Pongal 2022.
Suvarnabhoomi Enterprises Private Limited, is a company that is linked to Christy Foods Private Limited which had provided low-quality Pongal items. This Suvarnabhoomi Enterprises Private Limited has been given the contract for supply of eggs in all four regions of the state.
It is to be noted that Christy group is under the scrutiny of the Income Tax department in connection with a ₹1500 crore scam in public distribution system.
Natural Foods, which was served show-cause notice by the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Coporation (TNCSC) for providing substandard items in Pongal gift hamper, is still engaged for supplying eggs.
What is more shocking is that Tamil Nadu Minister for Social Welfare and Women Empowement Geetha Jeevan has revealed that Christy group were not blacklisted and hence they were allowed to participate in the tender.
“All egg suppliers and bidders were present while choosing the firms which quoted the least. So, there was no violation in tender norms.”, she was quoted saying.
Recently Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai while flagging the Paramakudi incident lashed out at Minister Geetha Jeevan asking her to focus on her job instead of her false-bravado on political stages.
பலமுறை பள்ளி சத்துணவு உண்ட மாணவர்கள் உடல்நலன் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட செய்திகள் வெளிவந்தும், கொஞ்சம் கூட அக்கறை இல்லாமல் செயல்படும் அழுகிய முட்டை அமைச்சர் திருமதி @geethajeevandmk, மேடைகளில் வசனம் பேசுவதை நிறுத்தி விட்டு, தனது துறைப் பணிகளை ஒழுங்காகக் கவனிக்க வேண்டும். (2/3)
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) February 4, 2023
Despite several instances of children falling sick after consuming spoilt eggs, there seems to be no action taken against erring companies by the DMK government.
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