MP school gets steel plates after children seen eating on newspapers
Sheopur (PTI): A primary school in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district has got steel plates after a viral video showed its students having mid-day meal on a newspaper, drawing severe criticism, including from Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.
BJP leader and former state minister Ramniwas Rawat and Sub-Divisional Magistrate Abhishek Mishra joined the students of the government school in Hullapur under the Vijaypur block and ate mid-day meal with them on Saturday.
A video posted on social media showed the school premises spruced up and children enjoying their lunch on brand new stainless steel plates.
“Today, our entire team visited the spot and inspected the food. It was found that the meal was properly served on plates. I myself, along with public representatives, also ate the meal there,” Mishra told reporters on Saturday.
“In the same way, we are monitoring this matter to ensure that no such incident happens again,” he added.
The video of food served on newspapers went viral on Tuesday, following which the authorities on Friday cancelled the contract of the self-help group responsible for preparing meals and handed over the job to the school management committee, the official said.
While the school in charge, Bhogiram Dhakad, has been suspended, notices have been issued to two other staffers, he said.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Saturday shared a video on X of the school children having mid-day meal on newspaper and targeted the state and the central government over it.
He alleged that the ruling BJP’s “development” is just an illusion and the party's real secret of coming to power is “vyavastha” (the system).
“These are the same innocent children on whose dreams the future of the country rests and they are not even getting a plate of dignity,” Gandhi said in his post in Hindi.
“Such a chief minister and prime minister should feel ashamed for nurturing the future of the country's children in this pitiable state,” the Congress leader added.
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Odisha: Normalcy returns to violence-hit Malkangiri; internet services fully restored
Malkangiri (PTI): Normalcy returned to Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Monday, nearly a week after around 200 villages were damaged in violent clashes in a village, with the district administration fully restoring internet services, a senior official said.
Additional District Magistrate Bedabar Pradhan said internet services, suspended across the district on December 8 to curb the spread of rumours and misinformation following the clashes, were restored after the situation improved.
The suspension had been extended in phases till 12 noon on Monday.
The administration also withdrew prohibitory orders imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita within a 10-km radius of MV-26 village, where arson incidents were reported on December 7 and December 8.
Though the violence was confined to two villages, tension had gripped the entire district, as the incident took the form of a clash between local tribals and Bengali settlers following the recovery of a headless body of a woman on December 4, officials said.
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The violence broke out after residents of Rakhelguda village allegedly set ablaze several houses belonging to Bengali residents, forcing hundreds to flee. The headless body of Lake Podiami (51), a woman from the Koya tribe, was recovered from the banks of the Poteru river on December 4, while her head was found six days later at a location about 15 km away.
Officials said the district administration held several rounds of discussions with representatives of the tribal and Bengali communities, following which both sides agreed to maintain peace.
Relief and rehabilitation work has since been launched at MV-26 village, with preliminary assessment pegging property damage at around Rs 3.8 crore.
A two-member ministerial team headed by Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo visited the affected village, interacted with officials and locals, and submitted a report to the chief minister.
So far, 18 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, the officials said, adding that despite the withdrawal of prohibitory orders and restoration of internet services, security forces, including BSF and CRPF personnel, continue to be deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
On Sunday, Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi visited MV-26 and neighbouring Rakhelguda villages, and held discussions with members of both communities as part of efforts to rebuild confidence and restore peace.
More than two lakh Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis were rehabilitated by the Centre in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in 1968, and they currently reside in 124 villages of Malkangiri.
