52 students taken ill after consuming milk in school

Lucknow: Over 50 students of a government primary school at Arya Nagar locality in Cantonment area here fell ill after consuming milk provided under mid-day meal scheme on Wednesday, prompting the district administration to order an inquiry into the matter.

"Fifty-two students were admitted to Cantonment Hospital after milk consumption. All of them are out of danger and many of them have been discharged," District Magistrate Raj Shekhar said.

"I have ordered collection of milk sample and asked the City Magistrate to conduct an enquiry into the matter and submit report within three days," he said.

In an explanation from General Manager, Parag dairy, which supplied the milk, it has come to light that 12,000 pouches of 200 ml each were supplied this morning to Akshay Patra, which handles Mid-day meal programme, Chief Development Officer (CDO) Yogesh Kumar said, citing Parag Dairy reply.

"The milk was collected this morning and was duly pasteurised by boiling it to 90?C and then chilling it to 4 degree Celsius before packaging it into small pouches. The problem did not crop up for all 12,000 pouches but for a specific school which is a matter of investigation," Kumar said.

Basic Sikshan Aadhikari (BSA) has got a sample of the milk supplied in his possession and it will be probed, he added.