West Bengal: Dead lizard & rat found in mid-day meal in Malda, locals create ruckus; see pics

Locals created ruckus after rat and lizard were found in mid-day meal in a school in Malda, ANI reported.

This comes, days after, the West Bengal government decided to introduce chicken and seasonal fruits in mid-day meals for a four month period from January. The decision had led to a political slug-fest as BJP had alleged that the ruling TMC government launched the initiative eying upcoming Panchayat Polls in state.

Nitin Singhania, DM Malda, while speaking to news agency ANI, said, "The case of dead lizard and rat found in mid-day meal has come to our notice. Strict action being taken against those who are responsible for it."

A local named Afsar said that the quality of the mid-day meal provided in the school is terrible. "Students have been complaining about it since a long time. Today we have caught them red-handed," he added.

Mid-day meal hits headlines from various school for food poisoning and substandard quality issues. in November, last year, at least 25 children studying in a government school in Andhra Pradesh's Sri Sathya Sai district were taken ill after having food supplied by school authorities under the Mid-Day Meal scheme. The incident occurred in a municipal primary school in Kadiri.