It was reported on Wednesday that the police had already confiscated all the remaining cooked food and cooking utensils for investigation as 22 students died due to food poisoning. The investigation is over and the police confirmed on Saturday that the food contains “very toxic” levels of agricultural insecticides which had killed 23 children now.
Police director general Ravindra Kumar told reporters that their forensic tests confirmed the presence of a pesticide chemical called monocrotophos. This pesticide is highly toxic to humans and birds that it was banned in the U.S and other countries.
The free school lunch was served in Tuesday to children with ages between five and 12 in the Gandamal village in Masrakh block, 50 miles north of Patna, the Bihar state capital. The children started vomiting and were rushed to the Patna Medical College Hospital.
The police had not arrested anyone so far but it was previously reported that a criminal case had been filed against the school’s head mistress that immediately fled during the incident. The authorities found a container of insecticide in the cooking area near the cooking oil and mustard oil but they haven’t confirmed yet if it was the source.
The free school lunch is part of the Indian government’s school nutrition programs which aims to provide nutritious food to poor children depending on the availability of food rations. It was designed to encourage parents to send their children to school without worrying about their lunch and a way to combat malnutrition as well. About 120 million children benefits from this program in India.
The poor quality of food and unhygienic way of serving the food is a known issue within this program however this food poisoning incident was the first in the food program.
