Dead rats found in kids’ midday meal

Bhopal: Five children were on Monday taken ill after eating midday meal in which dead rats were found, in an anganwadi centre in a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district.

Four dead rats were found in the food served in the midday meal to the children in the anganwadi centre in Semra Bag village under Sagar district, a senior district officer said.

“We have sacked the cook concerned and action would be taken against other concerned officials after a probe into the incident”, local sub-division magistrate said.

According to official sources, some officials in the anganwadi centre spotted the dead rats and alerted its in-charge to stop distributing them among the children.

But, by then five children had already consumed the meal and fallen sick.

They were rushed to Bundelkhand Medical College Hospital in the area. The anganwadi centre provides nutritious food to the malnutrition-affected children in the village in their midday meals.