Mid-day meal: Centre says need for collective responsibility

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New Delhi: Amid the blame game between the Centre and Bihar government over the mid-day meal tragedy, HRD Minister Pallam Raju today said it is time to "wake up" and take "collective responsibility".
The minister said government wants that the central government scheme is implemented properly and has hence constituted a review committee, which will look into the quality of the programme.
"It is certain that we will be strengthening the mechanism towards implementing the scheme," he told reporters here. The Union minister said he has received the report by the Saran administration over the incident, which talks about "shortcomings in the way food was stored and how that one factor led to the unfortunate incident. But we are awaiting forensic report, which will give greater detail about what happened."
To a question about the Bihar government denying receiving any alert as claimed by his ministry, Raju said, "I know there is a monitoring mechanism committee whose job is to find out loopholes and shortcoming. They have particularly pointed out to those 12 districts."
He, was, however, quick to add, "Now this is not a question of who has done what." "It is the time that all of us should wake up...It is a collective responsibility. It is not responsibility of state alone. It is the responsibility of local community, school management committee and district administration to ensure things are going to function," Raju said.
The minister said that when we know that this is the scheme, which is going to provide nutrition to our children, "we should strengthen it and the focus should be on that".
The mid-day meal tragedy has sparked a blame game with the Bihar government refuting Centre's contention that it had sent alerts to 12 districts, including Saran, where 23 children died after consuming food, over implementation of the scheme.
Next: Saran school to be tagged with nearby middle school

Saran school to be tagged with nearby middle school
Chhapra/Patna: The primary school in Bihar that witnessed the death of 23 children due to consumption of poisonous midday meal will cease to function from its present location and will be tagged with nearby middle school having infrastructure for cooking hygienic food.
"The Dharmasati Gandaman primary school will not function at the present location at a community hall building and will be tagged with Gandaman middle school which is around 200 metres away, Saran District Magistrate Abhijit Sinha told PTI.
The primary school was earlier part of the middle school and would again go back to its old location, the DM said.
The tagging is part of the state government's decision to attach thousands of new schools across the state which does not have roof or proper kitchen facility for cooking healthy midday meals.
The school has been shut since the midday meal tragedy that took place on last Tuesday. Meanwhile, no clue of the absconding principal of the institution and her husband has been found.
"Police is conducting raids in search of the fleeing duo," Superintendent of Police Sujeet Kumar said. The SP said if needed, police would seek order for property attachment of the principal. Meanwhile, condition of 24 children and the woman cook Manju Devi is stable at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH).
"All the children are showing considerable improvement but they are still in the hospital for observation and might be released by Monday," PMCH Superintendent Amarkant Jha Amar told PTI.
Amar said the woman cook, admitted at PMCH along with those children, is in complete shock and the hospital is giving her counselling. The cook's three children, two sons and a daughter, are also in PMCH.
The much-awaited FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory) report that would confirm the quantity of poison in the food is expected later today.