Madhya Pradesh School Children Receive Steel Plates for Midday Meals Following NDTV Investigation

Midday meal was previously served to children on scrap paper in the Madhya Pradesh school

Bhopal:

Following NDTV's revealing report about students at Hullpur Government School in Sheopur being served midday meals on waste paper sheets, the district administration took prompt action. Within two days, on Saturday, these same children who had been eating from crumpled newspapers were properly served their meals on steel plates.

This significant improvement came after Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi expressed his strong reaction on social media platform X on Thursday in response to NDTV's coverage.

In his post, Gandhi tagged NDTV's reporter and wrote, "I'm going to Madhya Pradesh today. Since I saw the news that children there were being served midday meals on newspapers, my heart is broken. These are the innocent children whose dreams depend on the country's future and they don't even have a plate of dignity. More than 20 years of BJP rule, and even children's plates were stolen. Their 'development' is just an illusion; the real secret to power is 'system'. Such a Chief Minister and Prime Minister should be ashamed."

Gandhi also posted in Hindi, expressing similar sentiments about the situation, which went viral and prompted immediate administrative action in Sheopur.

The Madhya Pradesh government quickly responded to counter the Congress leader's criticism. School Education Minister Uday Pratap Singh stated that corrective measures were already being implemented before Gandhi's post.

"Even before his tweet, the sensitive government under Dr Mohan Yadav had acted against the self-help group and school teacher responsible. Monitoring teams have been formed to ensure such negligence is not repeated."

Singh also countered politically by questioning the Congress party's record: "We ask why, in November 2024, about 50 students in Telangana's Narayanpet district were hospitalized after eating a midday meal made with rotten grains. Is the Congress chief minister of Telangana and Rahul Gandhi ashamed of that? Has any action been taken there?"

The minister emphasized that the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh "remains committed to good governance" and "takes strict action wherever errors occur."

In the aftermath of the controversy, former Forest Minister Ramnivas Rawat and subdivisional magistrate Abhishek Mishra visited Hullpur School on Saturday. They joined the children for lunch to personally assess the food quality and cleanliness standards, declaring that "Such negligence will no longer be tolerated."

Officials confirmed that school in-charge Bhogiram Dhakad had been suspended and the self-help group's contract for food supply had been cancelled.

The issue first came to light on November 4, when a video showing children eating their midday meals off discarded paper sheets went viral, triggering widespread criticism of administrative apathy.

After the video circulated, District Education Officer Harishankar Garg conducted a school inspection and filed a detailed report. The self-help group of five women claimed that only three workers were available that week and they had used paper to "avoid dishwashing." Reportedly, parents had not lodged any complaints before the video emerged.

Collector and District Magistrate Arpit Verma has now mandated a comprehensive review of the midday meal scheme throughout the district. He has instructed all school principals and panchayat officials to ensure hygienic conditions and proper utensils for every child.

"Negligence in providing food to children will not be tolerated. Strict action will be taken against any official or group found responsible," Verma stated.

What began as an NDTV investigative story has successfully compelled the system to take action, ensuring that for the first time in weeks, the children of Hullpur can eat from proper plates with dignity rather than scraps of paper.