LUCKNOW: Initiating action against the officials concerned in connection with the mid-day meal (MDM) controversy at a primary school in Sonbhadra, the district administration sacked Shiksha Mitra Jitendra Kumar, suspended officiating principal and MDM in-charge Shailesh Kumar Kanuajia.
Strict punitive action against the additional basic shiksha adhikari (ABSA) Mukesh Kumar for laxity was also issued.
The UP administration faced backlash after an incident, wherein, 1-litre milk mixed in a bucket of water was distributed among 81 school children of a primary was reported by Dev Kalia, a member of the Kota gram panchayat.
A video of the incident had also gone viral on social media.
Soon after the incident came to light on Thursday, district magistrate S Rajlingam inspected the school and set up a two-member committee, comprising basic shiksha adhikari Dr Gorakhnath Patel and district development officer Ram Babu Tripathi, to probe the matter.
The committee members visited the school and recorded statements of children and locals.
The DM said after the probe that the complicity of Shiksha Mitra Jeetendra Kumar was established in the irregularity. He was the main man behind dilution of milk.
According to authorities, Jeetendra mixed the milk with a bucket of water, then made a video of it and circulated it on Social media. An FIR has also been registered against Jeetendra under Section 408 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant) of IPC at Chopan police station.
M0eanwhile, the officiating principal Kanaujia was suspended for failing to arrange adequate quantity of milk to be distributed among the children in advance, claimed DM S Rajalingam.
As per MDM menu for Wednesday, children had to be served tehri (a rice preparation) along with 150ml milk. However, only one litre of milk was made available to the cook.
“When I visited the school, I found that shiksha mitra Jitendra Kumar with malafide intention instructed the staff to serve the available one-litre milk well before the scheduled time among the children by mixing water,” said Sonbhadra district magistrate S Rajalingam.
“He (Jitendra) did so with bad intention, as the school MDM in-charge Shlaish Kumar Chaurasia, who had gone to procure more milk, had already instructed him to distribute the milk only after his return,” the DM added.