Bihar horror: Report on mid-day meal tragedy likely by Tuesday

New Delhi: The HRD Ministry is expected to submit a report on the Bihar mid-day meal tragedy which claimed 23 lives by next Tuesday. Additional Secretary in the ministry Amarjit Singh, who was sent to collect first hand information about the tragedy, has started preparing the draft note before submitting it to HRD Minister M M Pallam Raju. [caption id=“attachment_971063” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A child in hospital in Bihar. PTI[/caption] He was sent to Bihar immediately after the incident, during which he is said to have met family members of the victims. Sources said Singh will make a compilation of the incident in Saran and another similar incident which took place in the state at Madhubani where about 50 students of a government middle school fell ill after eating food under the mid-day meal scheme. They said Singh has also sought details about the Tamil Nadu incident where over 100 girls were reported to have fallen sick after consuming mid-day meal. The presentation of the report is expected to coincide with the government formally announcing the composition of a new committee to review the implementation of the mid-day meal programme and monitor better the quality of food served and ensure hygiene standards. The sources said the ministry is reaching out to civil society groups for their consent. Raju had yesterday claimed that the ministry had alerted 12 Bihar districts about shortcomings in executing the scheme, a charge refuted by the Nitish Kumar government. IANS