74 Sangrur school students taken ill after consuming ‘poor quality food’; govt school principal suspended, contractor & manager arrested

A four-member committee led by Sangrur SDM has been formed to probe the case; the panel will submit its report within a week

Principal of Government Meritorious School at Ghabdan in Sangrur was suspended while the contractor of the mess, who also owns a four-star hotel in Muktsar, and manager of the mess were arrested after 74 schoolchildren were rushed to the civil hospital following suspected food poisoning.

All the 74 students have been discharged. A total of 900 students are enrolled at the residential school and all were served the same food.

The contractor, identified as Maninder Singh Vohra of Muktsar, and manager of the mess Parminder Singh of Phaguwal village have been booked under charges of attempt to murder.

Meanwhile, the education department also suspended the contract of the mess given to the accused, who had contracts for five more meritorious schools in Bathinda, Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana.

The students were admitted to the Sangrur civil hospital and satellite centre of PGIMER here after they complained of restlessness and vomiting.

According to officials, the symptoms seem to have stemmed from a meal they had in the hostel mess on Friday night.

All the 74 students have been discharged. A total of 900 students are enrolled at the residential school and all were served the same food.

Immediately after the Sangrur incident, the education minister ordered collection of samples of food at nine other meritorious schools of the state. There are 10 meritorious schools in Punjab.

Students were complaining about poor quality food for past 20 days

The education department suspended principal Manish Kumar Sharma for failing to act on regular complaints by students regarding poor quality of food.

An official pleading anonymity said, “The students had been complaining about poor quality of food for the past 20 days, but no steps were taken in this regard. Some students even refused to take their meals.”

He said, “The students were complaining about worms and remnants of steel wool in the food. Ironically, even after the complaints, the contractor was let off by just issuing a warning. Neither any action was taken against him, nor senior officials of district education department and district administration were informed.”

Another official of the district education department said, “The district education department was also not informed about the hospitalisation of students and the local education department also came to know about the issue at 9 am, while the students were admitted to hospital on Friday night. Besides, there was a six-member committee in the school to check the quality of food. The committee was supposed to check the food daily or monthly, as per the convenience of the school.”

2 doctors, para-medical staff, two ambulances deployed at school

Deputy commissioner Jitendra Jorwal said, “As of now, it seems the students were taken ill due to food poisoning. A four-member committee led by Sangrur sub-divisional magistrate Charanjot Singh Walia has been formed for a thorough investigation of all aspects in the case and will submit its report within a week. Other members of the committee include a Sangrur tehsildar, district education officer (secondary) and senior medical officer (SMO) of civil hospital.” Besides, two doctors, 14 members of para-medical staff and two ambulances have also been deployed at the school as a precautionary measure.

Minister orders monthly feedback from students

Meanwhile, education minister Harjot Singh Bains also visited the school and met the sick students at the hospital.

While speaking to the media, the minister said he has decided to take feedback from students every month to prevent such incidents in future.

“Feedback forms have been sent to schools and students will fill these forms on their own every month. According to the feedback, immediate steps will be taken on complaints,” said Bains.

He further said, “The contract of the school’s mess was given to the contractor in February this year. I have spoken to the students, and they apprised me of the poor quality of food that was being served since Diwali. The contract of the mess has been suspended. Strict action will also be taken against them after completion of the probe into the matter.”