Several girl students at Narayana Junior College fell ill due to suspected food poisoning, raising concerns over hostel food quality
Hyderabad: Many girl students from the Narayana Junior College at Kuntloor in Hayathnagar reported health complications on Sunday morning, after having dinner on Saturday.
While some of the students were treated in the college premises, the others were shifted to a private hospital.
Niharika (name changed), a first-year student told Deccan Chronicle, “There was an issue with around 10-15 girls. Around 10 of them were shifted to a nearby private hospital in Hayathnagar.”
Another first-year stated that she had vomited twice since morning because of the food she had during dinner.
Another girl, who suffered from a severe stomach ache, said, “we are being pressured against talking about the problem. When one of us dialled 100 and informed the police about our health condition, they locked most of the girls in one room. The food quality here is too bad. At least one hosteller or the other falls sick almost every day. However, this many people falling sick in a day is a rare occurrence.”
The hostel has two auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs) who informed that around two to five students complain of stomach ache, back ache and head ache every day. If their condition is determined to be serious, they are sent to a hospital and the parents are informed and asked to take their wards home.
A parent, a software engineer, said that students had been complaining about the food quality for the last one week. "I was told that the food is probably coming from the Koheda branch," he said.
What is appalling is that there is neither a doctor nor a counsellor and only nurses stay at the hostel.
"I am a BSc Nursing graduate and work with a private health company. Our company has tied up with Narayana," said Viresham, who was called in the morning to treat students. "I did not give students any medication but advised the teachers to give ORS to all," he added.
College principal Shwetha Chall claimed that around 15 students felt stressed due to the upcoming Math exam. While some students nodded in approval in the presence of the principal, many other students told Deccan Chronicle that the quality of food was the real issue.
Hayathnagar inspector P. Nagaraju Goud said that no case has been registered against the college as they had not received an ‘official complaint’.
Given the increasing number of food poisoning cases in educational institutions, Deccan Chronicle approached officials from the health department. Commissioner of food safety, R.V. Karnan said that private institutes would be inspected only after exams are over.
Meanwhile, Rangareddy district intermediate education officer Venkaiah Naik said that he and other officials would visit the college for an inspection and give a notice to the college management seeking explanation about the food poisoning incident.
He said “I will report the matter to the Telangana Intermediate Board of Education (TGBIE) secretary S. Krishna Aditya for further action against the college.” However, the principal Shwetha Chall said that the whole staff eats the same food. "Some girls felt nauseous in the morning and were taken to the sick room. They were asked to take some rest" she said.
