Sixty-four students at a government school in Surwas village, in Rajasthan’s Churu district, were taken to hospital after eating a mid-day meal in which a dead lizard was later found in the vegetable curry. Most students were discharged after treatment, while three remained under observation at the Sujangarh sub-district hospital.
The students had eaten vegetable curry and chapatis prepared on the school campus earlier in the day. After the meal, a dead lizard was discovered in the curry, and several students reported vomiting, stomach ache and uneasiness. The incident prompted parents and residents to reach the school and demand answers from the administration over food hygiene and supervision.
According to Churu chief medical and health officer Manoj Sharma, the school administration alerted the health department after the incident. A medical team and ambulances were sent to the school, and the affected students were taken to the Sujangarh sub-district hospital.
The hospital’s principal medical officer, Purshottam Karwa, said all the students brought for treatment received medical care. “We gave oral medication to all students and administered antacids intravenously to three students who complained of stomach ache and vomiting,” he said.
Health officials collected samples of the vegetable curry, chapatis and drinking water from the school. The samples have been sent for laboratory testing. The results will help establish whether the symptoms were linked to contamination in the meal or water, although the supplied report does not provide any laboratory findings yet.
The incident has raised questions about how meals prepared inside schools are inspected, served and monitored, particularly when cooking is handled locally. The education department said three women from Surwas village had been assigned responsibility for preparing the school’s mid-day meal.
Churu chief district education officer Santosh Mahrishi said the district administration had sought a factual report from the school and would send a team to inspect its facilities. “We have sought a factual report on the incident from the school. We will also be sending a team down to the school to inspect its facilities,” he told Times of India.
The administration’s inspection and the laboratory testing of the food and water samples are the next official steps in determining responsibility and establishing the cause of the students’ illness.
