Stuck mid-day meal stock found in Odisha school

Khordha: Midday meal supplies, including rice, lentils, oil, and turmeric, were recovered from underground at the Achyutpur Government Higher Primary School in the Tangi education block of Khordha district on Friday. Following the incident, three cooks allegedly involved in the incident were dismissed from service.

Acting on information, police arrived at the scene and launched an investigation after tensions arose on the school premises. According to reports, the cooks responsible for preparing the midday meal allegedly served substandard food to students while secretly diverting the food supplies for personal use. Suspicions arose after the students were allegedly served substandard food.

Based on suspicion, members of the school management committee, along with several villagers, conducted a surprise inspection of the school. Finding the midday meal to be of poor quality, they searched the kitchen premises.

During the search, they noticed a pile of firewood near the cooking area and asked the cooks to remove it. After digging under the ground at the scene, they reportedly recovered more than 4 kilograms of rice, along with about 1,800 grams of lentils, oil, and turmeric, hidden inside plastic bags.

Following the incident, a meeting was held on the school premises in the presence of teachers, school management committee members, parents, villagers, and the local sarpanch. The acting headmistress stated that it was decided to remove three cooks and appoint new ones starting next Monday.