The mid-day meal was cooked for the first time in two months in a primary school in Bihar where 23 schoolchildren died after eating contaminated food, officials said on Tuesday. The meal was cooked on Monday in the school in Dharmasati Gandaman village in Saran district, a district official said.
‘A total of 103 school children ate the mid-day meal on 16 September. After the 16 July tragedy, no meal was cooked in the school for two months as parents and villagers were against it,’ the official said. Authorities persuaded the villagers to accede to the resumption of mid-day meals. ‘As per an official order, teachers of the school first tasted the midday meal and then served it to children,’ the official said.
Rameshwar Mahto, a villager, said children brought lunch from home last month. The primary school does not have its own building and was earlier running from a one-room community centre when the tragedy occurred.