Students of St Teresa of Jesus High School, Chaudi-Canacona, were appalled to find a cockroach, frog, fly, some thread and hair in their midday meals on Tuesday morning.
The students, who were reportedly reluctant to consume the low-quality mid-day meal since the launch of scheme, were taken aback to find the bhaji-pav filled with foreign objects.
According to sources, one Std 7 student found a frog partially baked as part of the bhaji served in his tiffin box, while another student from the same class found a cockroach in the bread served to him along with bhaji.
A short while later, a Std 3 girl reportedly discovered some hair inside the bhaji served to her, while another girl from the same class found some thread in her bhaji. A little later, a Std 6 boy found a boiled fly in his bhaji.
When the students learnt about presence of foreign objects in their midday meals supplied to them, they reported the matter to their teachers.
In the absence of the headmaster, who was reportedly attending a workshop elsewhere in the State, senior teachers verbally reported the matter to the Canacona ADEI office and took the samples in their possession.
In the absence of ADEI midday-meal in-charge, two other ADEIs visited the school and saw the contaminated meals with frog and cockroach, but reportedly went away expressing their helplessness in the absence of the ADEI concerned.
School authorities then preserved the contaminated meals in the fridge for verification by ADEI Canacona midday meal in-charge.
Interestingly, pending any action on Tuesday’s contaminated meals, the midday meal contractor supplied the meals to the school on Wednesday in the form of bhaji-pav.
According to school sources, not a single student showed any interest in the midday meal, compelling the supplier to take it back the entire stock of the meals.
Finding so many foreign objects in the midday meals on a single day have also raised several eyebrows, with sources close to midday meal contractor alleging that it was the handiwork of some elements trying to defame a particular self-help group.
It is learnt that not many students from St Teresa of Jesus School were interested in the midday meals supplied by the contractor, claiming that the quality was sub-standard.
“Very often, these midday meals were either thrown away as waste or were being fed to stray cattle,” a source told Herald.
[Source]
