Adilabad KGBV food poisoning: 33 students admitted to RIMS, Special officer suspended

Negligence on the part of the officials concerned was quite evident as the students had been complaining of contamination of the food in the mess for the last three days. Insects and human hair were found in the food, according to one teacher, Mamatha.

By S. Harpal Singh  Published on  26 Dec 2022 12:30 PM GMT
Adilabad KGBV food poisoning: 33 students admitted to RIMS, Special officer suspended

Adilabad: The special officer of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) at Neredigonda in Adilabad district, Jayasri, was suspended on Monday following a food poisoning incident in the school. Five kitchen workers were also sacked after nearly 40 girl students suffered from loose motions and vomiting.

This is the 37th food poisoning incident in a government residential educational institute in Telangana from January to 6 November 2022.


As many as 33 students were admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Adilabad with symptoms of food poisoning. While 25 students were admitted to the hospital the previous night, eight were brought for treatment on Monday. According to officials, the condition of the students is stable and no one is in danger.

Adilabad district education officer Praneetha and KGBV special officer Udayasri conducted a preliminary inquiry into the incident. Negligence on the part of the officials concerned was quite evident as the students had been complaining of contamination of the food in the mess for the last three days. Insects and human hair were found in the food, according to one teacher, Mamatha.


In fact, the students had even staged a protest on Sunday following the discovery of insects in the food and the subsequent falling ill of several students. They had climbed the terrace of their building in protest.

1,247 students suffered from food poisoning in TS govt residential Edu institutes from Jan to Nov 2022: Study

1,247 students suffered from food poisoning in the government residential educational institutes in Telangana from January to 6 November 2022, according to a study by Hakku Initiative, a campaign-based online platform that works towards solutions to people's problems engaging citizens and the government.

The 36 cases of food poisoning have been reported in 34 educational institutions located in 20 districts in the state- Sangareddy (3), Jangaon (1), Narayanpet (1), Warangal (2), Siddipet (3), Asifabad (4), Vikarabad (2), Mahabubababd (2), Adilabad (2), Kamareddy (1), Nirmal (3), Nalgonda (2), Mancherial (1), Sircilla (1), Karimnagar (1), Medak (2), Mahabubnagar (1), Hanamkonda (1), Gadwal (2) and Khammam (1).

From January to July 2022, 17 cases of food poisoning were reported. In August 2022, 12 cases were reported. In September and October, six cases were reported. In the first week of November, one case was reported. Except in January 2022, in all the other months, the state recorded food poisoning incidents in government educational institutions.

Most of these cases have been reported in KGBV schools, minority residential schools, tribal welfare schools, and social welfare schools. 2 of the cases in Nirmal have been reported from IIIT Basar.

Kota Neelima, who led the research at Hakku Initiative recalled how children whom she had spoken to during the study shared their fear of having a meal from school or college. "The students said when they sit down to eat, they become nervous. Some of them even said that they were unable to focus on their studies. It is important to remember that most of these students come from vulnerable sections of the society and are desperately trying to take their families out of distress," said Neelima.

Further, she said that the government should take ten serious cases out of the total food poisoning cases, study them in detail and later, prepare a report with some rules and guidelines that all schools need to put in place.

In the recent incident in Sangareddy, inquiry was conducted post the incident and the Principal and 5 of the mess staff were fired. But beyond this, is the government taking steps to improve the quality of ingredients used for food preparation in government schools in Telangana?

"There is a lack of a long-term solution. Food is their basic right. Beyond meetings with ministers and clicking photos of having food with the students, what has the government done?" asked Neelima. She also said it's all about priorities-"When the government is spending so much money on Formula E racing, why is there no attempt to address the food poisoning cases?"

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