IIIT-Basar food poisoning victims yet to make a full recovery

ADILABAD: Students of IIIT-Basar who fell ill after consuming spoilt food at the college mess over a fortnight ago are yet to make a full recovery. The ill health of students came to light following the death of second-year student S. Sanjay Kiran, 19, on July 25.

Over 500 students fell ill after consuming spoilt food on July 15, following which they were admitted to hospitals.

Among the severely ill is first-year student Vignesh, of Hanumakonda, who was still suffering from health issues.

Rajeshwari, the president of the parents’ committee of IIIT-Basar, said that a delegation of parents visited Vignesh, who was being treated at a private hospital in Hanumakonda, on July 29.

She said that Vignesh needed Rs 30,000 for the treatment and his mother, who works as a tailor, is a single parent and that the medical costs were causing a strain.

The parents of Sanjay Kiran said that the government must take steps to save the lives of other students, as despite spending Rs 15 lakh on his treatment, they could not save him. They claimed that consumption of poor quality food over the past seven months had weakened him.

Meanwhile, students staying at the IIIT campus alleged that there was insufficient drinking water as the water purification system was not working.

Also, parents and students alleged misuse of Rs 700 collected from each student, under the head of insurance cover during admissions, as the authorities failed to provide the name of the insurance provider despite repeated questioning.

Parents alleged it was a scam as the insurance cover could have helped families of sick students to use the same for treating their children.