The Telangana Human Rights Commission has taken suo motu cognizance of alleged food poisoning among girl students at the Government Women’s Polytechnic College hostel in Pebbair, Wanaparthy district, and has sought a detailed report from the district administration.
The Commission, headed by chairperson Dr Justice Shameem Akther, acted on a news report published in a vernacular newspaper about students falling ill after consuming chicken for dinner on October 7. The report did not specify the exact number of affected students, but referred to food poisoning involving girl students staying at the government-run hostel.
The Commission’s intervention places the incident within a formal human rights and public accountability process. It has directed the Wanaparthy District Collector to submit information on the circumstances in which the students became ill, their current health condition and the medical treatment provided to them.
The news report cited by the Commission also alleged that the hostel warden and her husband attempted to conceal the circumstances of the incident by attributing the students’ illness to viral fever. The allegation has not been independently established in the material available, and the district administration’s report is expected to clarify what happened at the hostel and how the episode was handled.
The incident has raised concerns over food safety and the health of students living in a government educational hostel. Such facilities depend on institutional systems for meal preparation, supervision, medical response and communication with students and their families. The Commission’s request for a report means those aspects will now form part of the official inquiry requested from the district administration.
The action also shifts the matter beyond an internal hostel complaint by requiring a response from the District Collector. The requested report is expected to address both the alleged food-related illness and the treatment extended to affected students. It will also provide the Commission with an official account against which the reported allegations can be examined.
The matter has been posted for November 6, 2026, when the Commission is scheduled to consider the District Collector’s report. Until that submission, the available information establishes that an inquiry has been initiated, but does not establish the final cause of the students’ illness, the number of affected students or whether any administrative lapse occurred.
