LUCKNOW: An FIR has been registered against the headmistress and the cook of Changapur Primary School in the Mahmoodabad area of Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district after a video allegedly showing students being served watery vegetable curry and burnt chapatis under the mid-day meal scheme went viral on social media.
The FIR was lodged at Mahmoodabad Police Station against headmistress Kalpana Verma and cook Anita on the basis of the police complaint submitted by block education officer (BEO) Udaimani Patel.
The video of the incident, allegedly showing students being served watery vegetable curry and cold, burnt chapatis, went viral on social media on Wednesday.
The video also purportedly showed chunks of potato floating in the watery curry being served to the children. It further showed rotis falling on the floor before one child picked one up and placed it back on his plate.
Sitapur District Magistrate Dr Raja Ganapathy R, taking cognisance of the issue, had instructed the Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) to go to the school to verify the anomalies.
Based on the report given by BSA Gorakhnath Patel, headmistress Kalpana Verma was suspended with immediate effect and the services of cook Anita were terminated. Anita was employed on a contractual basis.
Rajaganapathy and Gorakhnath Patel said in a statement that the BEO, Udaimani Patel, who is the immediate supervising official for primary schools in the block, was also held responsible for dereliction of duty. An adverse entry was made in his service record.
The Block Education Officer and the Block Development Officer of Mahmoodabad were asked to conduct a preliminary inquiry after the video went viral. They traced it to a primary school in Chhangapur village in Mahmoodabad block. They visited the school and spoke to students and villagers to verify the video.
It was found to be genuine, following which a report was submitted to the District Magistrate’s office and the BSA. The district magistrate held the headmistress, Kalpana Verma, and cook, Anita, responsible for failing to serve food and milk in the mid-day meal as per prescribed norms and for preparing food of poor quality despite the required supplies being provided on time.
