MAHABUBABAD: Even days after the food poisoning incident at the Tribal Welfare Institutions in Mahabubabad district sent students to the hospitals, the officials are yet to crack the mystery behind how it happened. In the absence of a reason, the authorities are continuing with the same practices as before, putting the health of students at risk. However, Tribal Welfare Department authorities along with district officials visited the hostels after the incident and suspended the ones responsible.
A total of 22,000 students — 13,500 girls and 8,500 boys — live in the 120 Tribal Welfare Hostels across the district. In the month of July, two food poisoning incidents were reported in the district — one at Tribal Welfare Boys Hostel in Gudur mandal and another at the Tribal Welfare Girls School in Mahabubabad. Several students had to be rushed to nearby hospitals after vomiting and illness. After that, food safety authorities collected samples from the hostels and sent them to the lab for testing.
A girl student, under the condition of anonymity, alleged that the mess contractor stores the rice grains in the store room, which is infested with several insects and pests. Even the quality of vegetables is inferior, she added.She alleged that the cooks and other mess workers don’t even clean the grains or vegetables properly before preparing the food, which ends up impacting the students. After the recent incident, officials rushed to the hostel and assured the students that no such incident would occur anymore, but the contractor has stayed the same and is carrying on with the old practice of serving unhygienic food, she claimed.
Mahabubabad district Tribal Welfare Deputy Director M Yerraiah told Express that they are awaiting the results from the lab, based on which action would be taken against those responsible. He added the report would help zero in on the contaminant, and whether the source was water or the ingredients used to prepare the food. He added that the district Collector has deputed a district-level Officer as a special officer to monitor the hostels and see that quality food is being served to students in hostels.