Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA T Harish Rao on Sunday, November 10, attacked the Telangana government as expired medicines were allegedly found at a medical camp conducted for tribal school students in Mancherial.
Referring to the recent spate of food poisoning incidents at government schools across Telangana, the former minister asked who would be responsible if the expired medicines cause deaths. “If such incidents are being reported, what are the district collector and district medical officer doing about it?,” Rao asked.
In a post on X, the Siddipet MLA asked, “When will the Congress government wake up?”
Food poisoning cases in Telangana govt schools
Food poisoning seems to be rampant in Telangana government schools in recent times; over 90 students enrolled in government schools in Mancheriyal, Asifabad and Nirmal suffered from the same.
In Asifabad, 78 children from Wankidi tribal welfare residential school were admitted to the hospitals for alleged food poisoning, the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) Utnoor informed that 62 children have been discharged while the remaining 16 are still under treatment.
In Mancherial, 12 students were hospitalised due to food poisoning at the tribal welfare school. Following the incident, the school’s headmaster, D Madhav, was suspended.
The students were admitted to a hospital when they had food at the hostel attached to the school. Officials said that the students had a pickle brought from home. The students’ medical condition was said to be stable. Samples of the food consumed by the students were gathered and sent to a laboratory for examination.
Mancherial collector Kumar Deepak visited the hospital and instructed the officials to extend quality medical services to the students. He requested the parents not to panic over the incident. He stated that steps were being taken to prevent food poisoning incidents at the hostels run by the government.
The collector also suspended the District Tribal Welfare Officer (DTWO) Gangaram for negligence and spreading misinformation regarding food poisoning in the government school.
An order issued by the collector said Gangaram was placed under suspension for showing negligence in discharging duties and providing misinformation relating to hospitalisation of 12 students caused by alleged food poisoning that occurred at the school at Saikunta in the district headquarters on Wednesday. He was asked not to leave the district headquarters.
The tribal welfare officer reportedly delayed sharing the information about the incident with district authorities. He then misled higher officials in Hyderabad when they sought information about food poisoning by furnishing false data, causing inconvenience to the district administration.
The students vomited and had diarrhoea after consuming food at the hostel. They were admitted to a hospital, from where they were discharged by evening. Officials claimed they had food with a pickle brought from home resulting in the incident. However, an inquiry was initiated into the incident.
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