Bihar midday meal tragedy: Notice issued against Chhapra school principal

Chhapra/Patna: A notice declaring as proclaimed offender the absconding principal of Dharmasati Gandaman Primary School, where 23 children had died after eating mid-day meal, has been pasted at her home, police said today. The notice asked the principal Meena Devi to present herself before the police immediately, failing which the process of attachment of her property will start, Saran Superintendent of Police Sujeet Kumar told PTI. Meena Devi is an accused in the FIR filed in connection with the mid-day meal tragedy and has been on the run for over a week. The SP said there is no time line for the process and police raids were on in different locations to net the principal. Meena Devi has been charged in the FIR under IPC 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy). [caption id=“attachment_982619” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representative image. AFP.[/caption] A probe report by Saran Commissioner Shashi Shekhar Sharma and DIG Vinod Kumar submitted to the government has found the principal responsible for the tragedy. Meanwhile, the primary school, which has been tagged with the government middle school in the same village, is yet to start functioning at its new location. District Education Officer Shyamdeo Paswan told PTI that there were two teachers in the primary school, including the principal. The second teacher, who was absent on the day of the incident, is undergoing treatment for some medical problem in Patna. He said in the rest of the schools in the district the mid-day meal programme is going on as per the new instructions of the government that includes mandatory provision of the principal and teacher tasting the food before it is served to the students. Meanwhile, the 24 children and a woman cook Manju Devi admitted at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) after the mid-day meal tragedy is still under observation. “They will be in PMCH for another 4-5 days before the doctors are fully satisfied about their health,” hospital superintendent Amarkant Jha Amar said. PTI