Balodabazar, 3 Aug

A total of 78 students from a government-run school in Chhattisgarh's Balodabazar district were administered anti-rabies vaccine after they ate mid-day meals contaminated by a stray dog, an official has said.

The incident occurred on 29 July at Government Middle School in Lachchhanpur under Palari block, and a probe is underway into the chain of events, he said on Saturday.

"A stray dog contaminated cooked vegetables that were to be served to school students as part of their mid-day meal. Some of the students informed the teachers about the incident. Teachers had asked the self-help group that cooked the food not to serve it, but they went ahead, claiming it was not contaminated," he said.

The official said at least 84 students had food.

The students then narrated the incident to their families, after which parents and villagers approached the school, including its management committee chairperson Jhalendra Sahu, for clarification, said Umashankar Sahu, father of one of the students.

The villagers sought the removal of the SHG for ignoring instructions not to serve the allegedly contaminated food, he said.

Parents took the children to the nearest health centre, and 78 of them were administered the anti-rabies vaccine.

"The anti-rabies vaccine was administered as a precautionary measure, not because of confirmed infection. There is no side effect of the first dose. It was done on the demand of villagers, parents and SMC (school management committee) members," said Lachhanpur health centre in charge Veena Verma.

On Saturday, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Deepak Nikunj and block education officer Naresh Verma, along with other officials, visited the school to probe into the matter. They recorded statements of the children, parents, teachers and school management committee members.

However, members of the SHG did not join the investigation, the official added.

Meanwhile, local MLA Sandeep Sahu wrote to Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai demanding a probe into the incident and action against the culprits. He also sought to know on whose instructions the children were given anti-rabies injections.