On March 1 of this year, 25 students of a government school in Andhra Pradesh fell sick after they ate mid-day meals. Students of Zilla Parishad High School in Savalyapuram of Palnadu district allegedly fell ill after consuming sambar and tomato bath lunch provided as part of mid-day meals. The District Collector suspended an officer responsible for mid-day meals and issued show cause notices to the school Headmaster, District Educational Officer and Mandal Education Officer.
In the last few months, several instances of food or water contamination in government day and residential schools have been reported in Andhra Pradesh. There are mainly four types of residential schools called Gurukula Schools. They are Andhra Pradesh Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas Society, Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society Society and Andhra Pradesh Tribal Welfare Residential Institutions Society for children from marginalised communities. Special officers in concerned departments coordinate with the schools in their districts.
In January this year, more than 200 students from Dr BR Ambedkar Gurukul School (Girls) in Palnadu district were hospitalised due to food poisoning. Soon after, the government formed a committee to investigate the incident. TNM accessed the lab reports submitted to the District Medical Officer on February 4, 2023, which analysed water samples from five resources in the school. The report stated, “All the samples collected above are microbiologically unsatisfactory and indicate external contamination.” The pH level of water from the RO (reverse osmosis) plant for water filtration was reportedly found to be an acidic level of 5.92, and causes health issues like vomiting, diarrhoea, kidney disease, liver disease, stomach cramps, and nausea.
“After we got the report, we had the RO plant repaired at a cost of Rs 1 lakh,” District Collector Siva Sankar Lotheti told The Hindu. The administration suspended the hostel manager, physical education teacher, and school principal for negligence.
Speaking to TNM, Bathulla Padmavathi, member of the Andhra Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (APSCPCR), said, “The children complained of the symptoms two days before it was reported in the media. The principal had enough time to ascertain the reason for sickness when a few children complained but failed to do so.” She added that schools are provided with all essential resources like RO water plants, a healthy food menu, electricity, etc. “It becomes the responsibility of the concerned principals, wardens, and teachers to use them to the best possible efficiency for the children,” she added. In the absence of a sustained monitoring system, officials are left to respond only after the incident.
Padmavathi oversees the four districts of Palandu, Baptla, Prakasam and Guntur, and she has visited more than 40 schools in these districts. What she found was a lack of an efficient monitoring system to ensure best hygiene practices. A problem, she thinks, will be solved if district-level officials of concerned departments conduct surprise visits to the school.
The food contamination cases are not restricted to not just residential schools. In November, 225 students of Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT), Srikakulam IIIT campus in Etcherla, were taken ill and admitted after complaining of stomach pain, vomiting, and dizziness. More than 100 students were hospitalised. Following the incident, the Commission ordered an inquiry. TNM accessed the reports which said that contamination could have occurred due to food or water.
Kesali Apparao, Chairman of the Commission, told TNM, “The cause was not exactly known. But the school staff are being instructed to maintain hygiene to prevent food and water contamination.” Even after so many incidents, there is no data being collected on the number of incidents or long-term measures taken to prevent such incidents. Apparao also stated that the Commission does not maintain a record of all incidents and said, “When we receive a complaint or find a report in the media regarding any food contamination, we visit the place. If the effect is significant, then we order an inquiry into the incident and direct necessary measures.”
Health Commissioner J Nivas said their only role was to provide medical support when an outbreak is reported. But some measures are being introduced by them to minimise the occurrence of such incidents. “The responsibility of maintaining the hygiene and serving the food lies with departments managing the schools. The ANMs (auxiliary and nurse midwives) who visit the schools will check the sanitation maintained in the school in addition to the regular checkups. This will be in operation soon. The medical officer will conduct a complete medical screening of the students once in six months,” he said.
Apparao also relates that more than 500 children have fallen sick in multiple instances of food and water contamination in Palnadu, Anantapuram, Etcherla and Kothavalasa towns. In Etcherla, 225 students fell ill at RGUKT on November 4, 2022, while in Palnadu, nearly 200 students were taken ill on January 31, 2023. According to media reports, at least 80 children fell sick in Singanamala Kasturbha Vidyalaya at Anantapur on December 3, 2022, and 24 children fell ill in Backward Class Girls' Hostel in Vizianagaram district.
In response to incidents, he added that he visited nine government schools, where most female students complained of being sick. “Incidents are being reported in girls' hostels more than the boys' hostels. Girls are falling sick in larger numbers. It may have something to do with sanitation and hygiene,” Apparao said.
Former chairman of the Child Welfare Committee, BVS Kumar told TNM that maintenance of the hostels and the kitchens were sub-par in several places. “The wardens of the hostels at some places do not stay at the hostels every day due to long distance from home or sometimes simply due to negligence. It is the responsibility of the principal to solve such issues.”
Padmavathi pointed out the understaffing aspect and said, “When there are only two or three employees, cleaning the dining room, kitchen, and dormitories becomes a burden for them. At the very least, a separate cleaning staff for the kitchen is required.” She added that the Commission planned to send a proposal to the government to introduce packed food meals to the hostels from an external partner NGO to maintain quality and hygienic food delivery.
Concerned over the increasing number of incidents, Commissioner of the School Education Department S Suresh Kumar has instructed schools to strictly implement the standard operating procedures (SOPs) related to maintaining hygiene. Speaking to TNM, he said, "The SOPs are already in place to serve proper food to the students. All the food materials sent to the school for the preparation of meals have to be tested by the headmaster or teacher. They are also responsible for testing the meals before serving it to the students. We will not tolerate any food poisoning incidents, and we have made it clear that stringent action will be taken in such cases," the Commissioner said.