News Tamil Nadu

More Than 2000 Eggs Supplied To Govt Schools In Erode Found Rotten

November 5, 2023
The Commune

Over the past few days, a total of 2,115 eggs provided to noon-meal centers at government schools in the Kodumudi and Modakkurichi blocks of Erode district were discovered to be in a rotten state when they were boiled for serving.

Every week, approximately 92,000 eggs are delivered to primary and middle schools in the district as part of the mid-day meal program for students in Classes I to VIII. There are 126 schools in Modakkurichi taluk and 90 schools in Kodumudi taluk that receive weekly egg supplies.

School cooks and organizers at numerous noon-meal centers in these schools observed the spoiled condition of the eggs on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. They reported the issue to school authorities, and the eggs were not served to the students. Officials from the Noon Meal Program at the Collectorate were informed.

According to department sources, a total of 1,348 rotten eggs were discovered in 27 schools in Modakkurichi taluk and 767 in 13 schools in Kodumudi taluk. These schools had received the eggs on November 1 for serving to children over three days.

The supplier of the eggs was instructed to replace the spoiled ones, which they did on Friday. Additionally, the department collected egg samples for testing.

A poultry farmer suggested that the extreme weather conditions could have led to the hens becoming infected. However, both the hens and the eggs may appear normal despite the infection.

There have been several instances in the recent past when government school children have fallen sick after consuming lunch consisting of rotten eggs.

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.

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.

Same Suppliers Accused Of Corruption Supplying Eggs?

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.

Despite the fact that the DMK has been in power for more than 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 had 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.

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.

(With input from The Hindu)

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