Caste bias halts Anganwadi services in Odisha village after Dalit woman’s appointment as cook
Bhubaneswar: An anganwadi centre in Nuagaon village of Rajnagar block in Odisha’s Kendrapara district has remained closed for nearly three months after villagers allegedly boycotted it following the appointment of a Dalit woman as helper-cum-cook.
According to a report published by The New Indian Express, 23-year-old Sarmista Sethi was appointed to the post on November 24, 2025. Soon after she joined, several families reportedly objected to food being prepared by a Dalit woman and stopped sending their children to the centre.
Sethi said resistance began immediately after her appointment. She claimed that some villagers openly told her not to cook for the children. When she refused to resign, parents stopped sending children to the anganwadi. She added that women in the village gradually stopped visiting the centre as well. Nuagaon has around 45 households, including seven Dalit families.
The boycott has affected nearly 60 children who are now deprived of supplementary nutrition and early childhood education services. Pregnant and lactating women have also stopped visiting the centre, missing out on health and nutrition support, said Ghadiamala sarpanch Sailendra Mishra. He said repeated appeals to villagers to resume participation have not yielded results.
Anganwadi worker Lizarani Pandav reported the matter to the Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) of Rajnagar block. CDPO Dipali Mishra said efforts were made to resolve the issue through dialogue. Meetings were held with villagers, including by the tehsildar, but the centre has not resumed normal functioning.
On Tuesday, a group of Dalit leaders visited the village and demanded legal action against those blocking the anganwadi’s operations. Nagen Jena, district president of Dalit Samaj, referred to a 2004 interim order of the Supreme Court in the PUCL versus Government of India case, which prioritises Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates in appointments of cooks under government nutrition schemes.
Kendrapara district collector Raghuram R Iyer said he has sought a detailed report from the district social welfare officer. He added that appropriate action would be taken after examining the findings against those found to be illegally preventing children and women from accessing anganwadi services.
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Bihar: Over 150 children fall ill after consuming 'mid-day meal' in Saharsa
Saharsa (PTI): More than 150 children were taken ill after allegedly consuming food that was part of the mid-day meal in a school in Bihar’s Saharsa district, a senior official said on Thursday.
The incident occurred at a middle school in Baluaha village of the district.
The official said that 115 children were undergoing treatment at the Sadar Hospital, while around 50 students were admitted to Mahishi Public Health Centre.
“We received information that several children fell ill after consuming the mid-day meal in Baluaha. The children were initially treated at the primary health centre, but later, many were referred to the Sadar Hospital,” Saharsa District Magistrate Deepesh Kumar told reporters.
“According to doctors, the health condition of the children has improved, but they will be kept under observation for some time. There is no need to panic. Some kids are having mild fever. They are being treated accordingly,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, family members of some children claimed that a snake was found in the container in which cooked pulses was stored at the school.
Of the 545 students present in the school, 200 had already eaten their meals by the time the snake was spotted, and later complained of stomach ache and vomiting, they said.
Regarding the claims, the DM said food samples have been collected from the school.
“We will be able to comment on this only after the results of the tested samples arrive,” he said.
