'Eat and check mid-day meal before serving to kids'

Patna, July 18: The Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government has released an advertisement in newspapers that reportedly directs the schools' principals and cooks to first eat the food themselves before it is served to students.

The new directive has been taken in the wake of two unfortunate incidents of contamination of mid-day meals at a government primary school in Bihar's Saran district and a primary school in Madhubani.

The advertisement says, "Even when an education department supervisor visits the school during surprise checks, he/she should taste the midday meals."

The ad also instructs schools not to store insecticides alongside food ingredients and cattle feed to prevent contamination of the food given to school children.

Yesterday, the death toll in contaminated mid-day meals rose to 23 including a cook.

Shockingly, Nitish Kumar has not yet visited the hospital where the ill children, who consumed the food, have been admitted.

In the past, dead lizards, frogs, insects and even a rat have been found in food cooked for the mid-day meal in schools.

OneIndia News