Over 300 AMU women students taken to hospital after food poisoning
Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh) (PTI): More than 300 women students of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) were taken to a hospital on Wednesday morning with symptoms of food poisoning, authorities said. They started showing the symptoms after dinner at their hostel the previous night.
By the afternoon, almost all of them were discharged from the university's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, they said.
"The girls started coming in early morning and we have treated about 300 girls. Once they showed improvement, we discharged them. We are constantly monitoring the health of all the girls," the hospital's chief superintendent, Dr Haaris Manzoor Khan, said. They were residents of the Begum Azeezun Nisa Hall, he added.
The Begum Azeezun Nisa Hall of the AMU is a women's hostel with a capacity of accommodating 1,500 students.
As the news of the incident spread, district authorities rushed a team of health officials to take samples of food stored at the hostel's dining area and kitchens.
District health officials and food inspectors have collected food samples from the hostel, an university official said.
An AMU spokesperson told PTI that a three-member committee has been set up to investigate the matter.
Office bearers of the AMU Teachers' Association (AMUTA) will hold a meeting on Wednesday evening to discuss the situation.
AMUTA secretary Obaid Ahmad Siddique told reporters that the "enquiry into this serious matter would only be meaningful if it is time bound".
The second issue which has to be probed is the ad hoc manner in which "tenders for food supplies were being cleared in recent months by university authorities", he said.
Siddique claimed that if a high-level probe is carried out, it is "likely to reveal major irregularities in food material purchase procedures".
He also alleged that in the past few months, students staying at other hostels of the university have complained about the quality of food, but such complaints were not addressed.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
