ANANTAPUR: Suspecting that they were being served plastic rice, students of Arts College spilled onto the roads here demanding stern action against their principal.
Before hitting the streets, they gathered at principal Ranga Swamy’s chamber and raised slogans demanding his suspension for allowing the use of plastic rice which they said caused serious health problems.
The students held out plates with cooked rice rolled into balls and claimed it was sticky because it was adulterated with plastic.
They demanded stern action against college authorities who had “failed to stop this”, despite being informed of the situation.
The youngsters claimed they were being served plastic rice for the last few weeks due to which many had fallen seriously ill.
“We brought the issue to the notice of higher officials, but no action was taken,” a student said even as a few others tried to break open the doors of principal Ranga Swamy’s room.
On learning of the agitation, Deputy Superintendent of Police Mallikarjuna Varma rushed to the college and tried to pacify them, but angry students held out the sticky rice and told him it was adulterated.
He responded by assuring them that samples of rice would be sent to laboratories for examination and action would be taken on the basis of results.
The Deputy Superintendent of Police added that he had directed food inspectors to inspect the rice bags stored in college hostel.
Déjà vu
Similar protests had rocked Vizag two months ago after a WhatsApp hoax went viral. Several customers had returned their rice bags to stores saying they suspected it was adulterated with plastic. Their fears were assuaged after authorities shot down the rumour saying plastic as an adulterant was in no way profitable