Assam government to check quality of midday meals

GUWAHATI: In the aftermath of the midday meal tragedy in Bihar, Assam government on Thursday said it has been considering to procure technology to test quality of the food items for schools.

"The Bihar tragedy is an early signal of disaster for entire India. It is an alarming thing. Nobody has died in Assam so far, but we have also had cases of 300-400 children getting ill after eating midday meal at school," Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters on the sidelines of Assembly session here.

He said usually it is very difficult to judge the quality of raw food like rice or dal when the school authorities buy these for mid-day meals. "I am going to sit with Supply Minister and see how we can evolve a mechanism to check the quality of the food items. We need to have better technology for this," Sarma said.

The mid-day meal tragedy at Chhapra in Bihar has claimed 23 lives, while 25 others, including 24 children and a cook, are under treatment at Patna Medical College and Hospital.