A teacher watches students eat a meal at the Footpath School in Ahmedabad. The teacher and his sons started the school for children of labourers, ragpickers and domestic helps so that they could receive education and a free meal.
Patna: The Bihar government yesterday suspended from service an education department official responsible for monitoring midday meals at a school in Saran district where 23 children died after eating contaminated food on July 16, officials said.
The house of Meena Devi, headmistress of the school at Gandaman village, who is on the run since the incident, was again raided and an empty bottle of pesticide was seized, police said.
Block education extension officer Satyendra Kumar Singh was placed under suspension for alleged lapses in monitoring the midday meal scheme at the school.
Amarjeet Sinha, principal secretary, education, confirmed the action against Singh.
“A decision was taken to suspend him on the basis of a report of the two-member high-level committee comprising divisional commissioner of Saran and deputy inspector general of police that found him guilty of negligence of duty,” said Sinha.
Meena Devi has also been suspended from service for gross negligence.
According to district officials, a first information report has been registered against her on penal charges of murder and criminal conspiracy.
During a raid on the house of Meena Devi, an empty bottle of pesticide was seized, police said.
On Saturday, a Forensic Science Laboratory report confirmed presence of toxic insecticide strains in the cooking oil used for making food at the school.
The poisonous substance, organophosphorus, in oil samples collected from school was more than five times the commercial preparation available in market, police said.
Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) Ravinder Kumar said it was a matter of investigation how and from where this poisonous substance got mixed in the cooking oil.
IANS
