The city government has decided to grant Rs 1 lakh compensation to 10 girl students who fell sick after eating the midday meal in August 2011.
The decision comes a day after 12 students were hospitalised in east Delhi after they complained of stomach ache following their midday meal at Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in Patparganj on Thursday.
On August 25, 2011, as many as 10 girl students of Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in Rohini, Sector-20 complained of stomach ache after consuming midday meal supplied by an NGO M/s Royal Education and Social Welfare Society.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said that a criminal case under Section 366 of Indian Penal Code should be registered against the meal supplier.
“The commissions also observed that the lives of the small children were put in danger through the supply of poisonous midday meal in a school under the supervision of the state authorities,” said the NHRC.
“The NHRC’s persistence resulted in government granting Rs 10,000 each to the 10 students,” it added.
In another case of midday meal poisoning, the Madhya Pradesh government has decided to pay Rs 60,000 compensation to three girl students.
On February 2, 2012, a total of 85 children had fallen ill, three of them seriously, after eating the midday meal at a Secondary School in Mathdevai Village, Siwani District, Madhya Pradesh.
The meal was prepared by the Durga Self-Help Group.
The three seriously ill students were referred to the hospital for further treatment by a Primary Health Centre.
The NHRC said that a criminal case under sections 337/34 of Indian Penal Code should be registered against the cook and departmental action must be taken against the teacher.
In both the incidents a dead lizard was found in the midday meal and the issue was brought to the notice of the NHRC by a human rights activist.