69 tribal students hospitalised after suspected food poisoning at Amravati ashram school
As many as 69 tribal students of an ashram shala (residential school) in Maharashtra's Amravati district were hospitalised on Saturday night after they complained of vomiting and stomach pain. Officials confirmed on Monday that the students were stable and recovering.
Ashram shalas are residential schools run by the state's Tribal Development Department, providing free education, accommodation, and meals to children from Scheduled Tribes. The affected students are from the Government Secondary Ashram School in Titamba village, Dharani taluka.
Project Officer for the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP), Siddarth Shukla, said 50 girls and 19 boys fell sick after eating meals at the school. They were rushed to the Sub-District Hospital in Dharani.
Amravati police said that due to a shortage of medical staff at the sub-district hospital, private medical practitioners from Dharani and nearby villages were called in to assist. A police statement said the condition of all admitted students was stable and out of danger.
A complaint was registered against the operator of the central kitchen that supplies meals to the school. The case was filed on Sunday by the school's principal, Nilesh Keshavrao Bhagwat. The complaint names Vijay Sadashiv Bothare and Sachin Kisan Satpute of the kitchen, cook Sandeep Singh, and Mahesh Desai. Police said the case was registered under Sections 125(a), 125(b), 274, and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Sections 56, 59(ii), and 59(iii) of the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
Police have seized samples of the food served to the students and sent them for forensic analysis. A panchnama was prepared at the scene. According to officials, 66 of the affected students were discharged on Saturday night after their condition improved. Three students remained under medical observation in the hospital.
As a precaution, police also inspected ashram schools in the nearby villages of Bijudhawadi, Savilkheda, and Sasarda. The investigation is being supervised by Sub-Divisional Police Officer Madhavrao Garud.
Congress MP Balwant Wankhade has called for the suspension of the school's superintendent and principal over alleged negligence. "Such negligence regarding the safety of students will not be tolerated," he said, asking Project Officer Shukla to take action.
The exact cause of the illness has not been determined yet. Officials said the forensic analysis of the food samples will establish whether the meal was contaminated. Cases of suspected food poisoning in ashram shalas have been reported in different parts of Maharashtra in the past, prompting the state government to issue food safety guidelines for such institutions. The latest incident is under investigation.
