UP mid-day meal row: After rice and salt, children are now served 'namak-roti'

VARANASI: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken cognizance of the Mirzapur mid-day meal scam, where primary schoolchildren were served chapatti with salt. Three persons, including a teacher of Shiyur primary school, a nyay-panchayat officer and the block education officer were suspended. This happened just a day after children were served rice and salt in the garb of khichadi.
MLC Ashish Patel of Apna Dal, whose wife Anupriya is MP from Mirzapur, wrote to the chief minister, seeking immediate transfer of basic education officer, citing corruption cases against him, to conduct an impartial inquiry.
Speaking to TOI, district magistrate Anurag Patel said, he along with chief development officer Priyanka Niranjan visited the school on August 23 and found the allegations to be true. “We conducted an investigation and found that on August 21, children were served rice and salt instead of khichadi. I ordered suspension of an attached teacher, Murari, and the nyaya panchayat officer, AK Tripathi,” he said. Patel said he also forwarded his report to the state government, recommending action against block education officer Brijesh Kumar and basic education officer PK Tiwari.
“Acting on this report, the state government suspended Kumar while Tiwari has been attached to the district institute for education and training. The chief development officer has been asked to look after BSA’s office till another officer is posted,” said Patel.
The incident came to light after a video showing two teachers distributing chapatti and salt to the children became viral on social media. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi tweeted: “Students are being served salt and rotis in mid-day meals in Mirzapur. This is state of affairs of BJP government in Uttar Pradesh.