'Dog-licked' school meal: HC orders state to pay Rs 25,000 to each student
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Raipur: Children at a government school in Chhattisgarh were served food contaminated by a stray dog, prompting the Chhattisgarh High Court to order the state government to pay Rs 25,000 compensation to each of the 84 affected students. The incident took place on July 28 at the Government Pre-Secondary School in Lachhanpur village, Palari block, and came to light on August 2 after a news report.
Investigation revealed that a stray dog had entered the school kitchen and consumed part of the vegetable curry prepared for the mid-day meal. Despite being aware of the contamination, the cook and the in-charge headmaster served the same food to students. Following complaints from parents, all 84 children were administered three doses of anti-rabies injections without parental consent or departmental notification.
A division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice B.D. Guru expressed serious concern over the report submitted by the district Collector and the Education Department’s response. The court held that the state failed to ensure safe and hygienic food for schoolchildren and ordered compensation to be paid within a month. “The government and the self-help group assigned to provide mid-day meals were negligent. The food was unfit for consumption, and despite administering anti-rabies injections, the matter was suppressed. We deem it proper that Rs 25,000 be paid by the State to each student who consumed the meal,” the bench said.
Following media exposure and a preliminary inquiry, the Jai Laxmi Self-Help Group, responsible for the meal programme, was removed. District Collector Deepak Soni suspended the school’s in-charge headmaster, Netram Giri, and teacher Vedprakash Patel on August 5, while the annual salary increments of three other teachers, L.B. Ravilal Sahu, L.B. Nemichand Baghel, and L.B. Nampyari Dhruv, were withheld due to dereliction of duty. On August 6, cluster coordinator Yogesh Kumar Patel was found guilty of negligence for failing to report the incident to higher authorities.
District Education Officer Rakesh Sharma confirmed the court’s order and stated that steps are being taken to prevent such lapses in the future. The case has sparked widespread outrage and renewed demands for stricter oversight of mid-day meal programmes across the state.
The matter is scheduled for further hearing on September 17.
With IANS inputs
