VIJAYAWADA: A day after YSRC MLA Dulam Nageswara Rao paid a surprise visit to the BC welfare hostel in Kaikaluru, female students residing in the hostel staged a protest on Tuesday against the hostel warden for serving stale food and other irregularities.
The students alleged that as many as 26 girls had to be hospitalised after consuming the food served in the hostel on Sunday. They accused the hostel warden N Malleswari and other staff of dereliction of duties.
Later, the students informed deputy director of BC Welfare, IR Bhargavi about the incident, who took immediate action and suspended two cooks and the watchman.
According to the students, the hostel warden had colluded with the cooking staff B Peddintlamma and T Chinnari for diverting the rice meant for the hostel and were making money out of it. “Instead of providing us with the rice supplied by the State government, the warden has been supplying poor-quality rice. To avoid suspicion, the cooks used to mix the rice with Sambar. Despite bringing the issue of ill-health due to food, to her notice, she paid no heed. On Sunday, after consuming the food, 26 girls complained of stomach pain and were admitted to a nearby health care centre,” said a student.
Bhargavi told TNIE, “Immediate action has been taken against the staff — two cooks and the watchman. A report on the same has been sent to the Director of BC Welfare and the District Collector to decide the course of action to be taken against the warden, N Malleswari.”