Mid-day meal scare: Food being cooked right outside school toilet in MP

Damoh: In a shocking incident, a government school in Madhya Pradesh's Damoh district came under the spotlight on Tuesday for storing mid-day meal food, utensils in the school toilet.  

While the government school's toilet is being used as a food storage facility, the mid-day meal cooks have been preparing food, meant for school children, right outside the toilet. 

Photos show mid-day meal cooks sitting near a stove with firewood about them, right next to the toilet. 

The lack of space for a separate kitchen was cited as one of the main reason by authorities. Whereas, the headmaster of the government-run school conveniently blamed the concerned self-help group which is responsible for running the mid-day meal programme.

MP Minister Gopal Bhargav said that a probe will be initiated into the matter and action will be taken against the people responsible for this.

"Something like this shouldn't happen. I'll order for probe today itself. It'll have to be seen if it's due to corruption. Action will definitely be taken. It's tough to monitor all groups who prepare food for schools. Mechanism is being put in place," he said. 

According to an NDTV report, in November 2017, students of another government-run primary school in Madhya Pradesh's Damoh town were allegedly made to clean a toilet using their mid-day meal utensils, prompting the district authorities to order an inquiry into the incident. The school staff, however, denied the allegation.

(With ANI inputs)