HYDERABAD: The warden of the tribal welfare residential hostel in Mannanur village was suspended on Friday by Nagarkurnool district collector P Uday Kumar, after over 60 female students were taken ill after consuming contaminated food during dinner time on Thursday.
Interestingly, this wasn’t the first time that Mangamma, the warden, was suspended from this very hostel.
Locals told TNIE that she was suspended multiple times in the past, but was reinstated again due to political interference. As per sources, even her husband used to work in one of the social welfare hostels in Mannanur.
According to those who were involved in the rescue effort, around 60 girls fell sick on Thursday night at the hostel, and as there was no space in the ambulance, the children were ferried in autos and a truck to Achampet government hospital for treatment.
On Friday, at least two students were shifted to Nagarkurnool district government hospital’s ICU as their situation worsened. The rest of the children are presently undergoing treatment in Achampet. Similar incidents have happened at social welfare residential hostels in Mortad of Nizamabad district, Devaruppala in Jangaon district, and also in Asifabad district.
Advocate Chikkudu Prabhakar filed a public interest litigation (PIL) last month in the high court, seeking a status report from the State government on the hygienic conditions and other food safety norms prevailing in the social welfare hostels across the State. He told TNIE that he is going to file an interlocutory application (IA) in the high court on Tuesday, on the same issue.