Two minors fell ill after allegedly eating the midday meal, in which a lizard was found, at a school in east Delhi’s Kalyanpuri on Saturday afternoon. They are stable, the police said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Pankaj Kumar Singh said that two minors aged 11 and 14 of Class VII and IX respectively consumed the midday meal at Rajkiya Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya and were taken to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital after they complained of illness.
“It was told to the police that a lizard was found in their meals. The police was informed by the hospital around 1 p.m.,” he said.
Case registered
The police said a formal complaint has been received by the school’s principal Geeta Arora against their vendor Bhim Rao Ambedkar Uthan Samiti.
“A case under Section 336 [Act endangering life or personal safety of others] of the Indian Penal Code has been registered and the matter is under investigation,” he said.
Sources said that the same food was also consumed by other students and it is being probed how the lizard was found in the meals of the two students.
Contract terminated
Reacting to the complaint received, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said he had ordered action against the supplier of the midday meal.
He said a complaint had been received about a lizard being found in the food served to students on Saturday, leading to the children falling ill.
The children were fine by evening, he said, adding that he visited the school and met the students.
He said such “negligence” would not be tolerated, and that apart from filing an FIR, the contract of the supplier was terminated with immediate effect.
He added that till an alternate supplier could be put in place, the 61 schools that this contractor supplied to would be catered for by another government contractor that worked nearby.