LUCKNOW: Close on the heels of a controversy over mid-day meal comprising ‘salt-roti’ served to children at a government primary school in Mirzapur last week, another incident was reported from an English medium government primary school in Ballia district where a section of children allegedly refused to share meals with their Dalit classmates.
Some of the students allegedly carried their plates from home to the school. However, the DM after a visit to the school rejected the report calling it far from reality.
As per the sources, there were reports that some upper caste students of the primary school used to bring utensils from their house as they did not want to eat in school plates in which anyone ate.
Some unconfirmed reports also claimed that some of the students used to sit in a separate group while having meals avoiding to sit with the Dalit students.
Meanwhile, getting information through social media reports, when District Magistrate Bhawani Singh Khangaraut reached the school to verify the facts, he spotted some local BSP leaders on the premises allegedly spreading the same bit of information.
When questioned by the DM, they tried to wash their hand of the issue saying he should get the probe done into the issue. On the contrary, when the DM asked the children if any discrimination was done with a particular section of students, they denied it saying that they had food sitting all together.
They even said that the food quality was also good. However, the DM said that for a thorough probe into the issue, he had instructed a joint magistrate to talk to the parents of all the children. “If any instance of discrimination on the basis of caste comes to the fore, strict action will be taken against the culprits,” said Khangaraut.
Meanwhile, taking the cognizance of the issue through social media, BSP chief Mayawati called the act "heart-breaking". "The news from the government school in Ballia about Dalit students sitting separately for meal is heartbreaking and highly condemnable.
BSP demands that people practising untouchability should be dealt with strictness so that others can learn from that and it is not repeated,” she tweeted.