Bihar School Update
Magnhild Mongolo
On 16 July 2013, 23-27 students died, and dozens more fell ill at a Bihar School, a Primary School in the village of Gandaman in the Saran district of the Indian state of Bihar after eating a Midday Meal contaminated with pesticide.[1][2][3] Angered by the deaths and illnesses, villagers took to the streets in many parts of the district in violent protest.[4] Subsequently, the Bihar government took a series of steps to prevent any recurrence of such incidents.[5]
Across India, the Midday Meal Scheme provides roughly 120 million children with free lunch, making it the world's most extensive school lunch program.[6] In spite of corruption involved in implementing the scheme, it aims to fight widespread poverty and improve children's school attendance and health as a large number of India's children suffer from malnutrition.[7][8]
Bihar in northern India is among the nation's poorest states.[9] According to Mashrakh residents, students have suffered from food poisoning after eating school lunches on multiple occasions.[10] P. K. Shahi, Bihar's education minister, said complaints about food quality were not uncommon, but there had been no reported incidents of widespread food poisoning during his tenure.[7] The nonprofit Hare Krishna Food for Life describes the meal programmes in Bihar and neighbouring Uttar Pradesh as "the worst in India." Public health is poor in general, with most water sources contaminated, and hospitals underfunded.[4]
The primary school Dharmashati-Mata Mandir, in the village of Gandaman, was established in 2010. At the time of the incident, 89 children were registered with the school.[11] The food material for Midday Meals was stored at the house of the headmistress as the school did not have sufficient infrastructure.[12]
On 16 July 2013, children aged between four and twelve years at the Dharmashati Mata primary school complained that their lunch, served as a part of the Midday Meal Scheme, tasted odd.[4] The headmistress rebuked children who questioned the food.[7] Earlier, headmistress Meena Kumari had been informed by the school's cook that the new cooking oil was discoloured and smelled odd.[10] Kumari replied that the oil was purchased at a local grocery store and safe to use.[9][10] The cook, who was also hospitalized by the poisoning, later told reporters that it looked like there was "an accumulation of residual waste at the bottom [of the oil jar]".[9] The meal cooked at the school that day consisted of soya beans, rice and potato curry.[9]
Thirty minutes after eating the meal, the children complained of stomach pain and soon after were taken ill with vomiting and diarrhoea. The number of sick children overwhelmed the school and the local medical system. Some of the sick children were sent home, forcing their parents to seek help on their own.[4] According to the official count, 23 children died as a result of the contaminated food.[1] Parents and local villagers said at least 27 had died.[2] Sixteen children died on-site, and four others were declared dead upon arrival at the local hospital. Others died in hospital. Among the dead were two children of a female cook, Panna Devi; her third child survived.[12][13] A total of 48 students fell ill from the contaminated food. Three remained in a critical condition as of 17 July.[9] Thirty-one children were moved from the local hospital to Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) for further treatment.[7]
Initial indications were that the food was contaminated by an organophosphate, a class of chemicals commonly found in insecticides, pesticides and herbicides.[7] A local government administrator commented "It appears to be a case of poisoning but we will have to wait for forensic reports ... Had it been a case of natural food poisoning, so many children would not have died."[9] Dr Amar Kant Jha, superintendent of PMCH in Patna, said that the survivors were emitting toxic vapours, which led his team to suspect almost immediately that they had been poisoned with an organophosphate.[14]
Late on 17 July, officials stated that they believed the cooking oil had been placed in a container formerly used to store insecticides.[4] According to state officials, the school's headmistress had bought the cooking oil used in the food from a grocery store owned by her husband.[1] On 20 July police said that a forensic report confirmed the cooking oil contained "very toxic" levels of monocrotophos, an agricultural pesticide.[3][15]
Nineteen of the children's bodies were buried on or near school grounds in protest. Across Bihar, numerous students refused to eat their meals in the days following the incident.[1] On 17 July, hundreds of Mashrakh residents took to the streets in protest.[10] Demonstrators lit fires and burned effigies of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.[9] The flames damaged four police vehicles.[10] Others threw stones at the police station and chanted slogans denouncing the government.[9] Some villagers demanded that the Midday Meal program be scrapped.[2] Angry protesters carrying sticks and poles blocked roads and rail lines.[10] Desks and chairs from the school were taken and smashed, while the kitchen area was destroyed.[2] In nearby Chhapra, multiple arson attacks were reported, including reports that a crowd set fire to a bus, but no injuries were reported from either city.[1][2][4][10]
Bihar State Education Minister Shahi commented that many people involved in the program were looking for easy money and that "it is just not possible to taste meals in all the 73,000 schools before children eat the food."[4] He also alleged that the contaminated oil had been purchased from a member of a rival political party.[2] Opposition party members accused the ruling Janata Dal (United) party of acting too slowly[9] and called for a general strike.[7]
The Bihar government promised a thorough investigation and offered INR 200,000 (US$3,400) compensation for families of the dead children. Kumar called an emergency meeting and dispatched forensic experts to Mashrakh.[10] The headmistress and her husband fled after the deaths became public knowledge, and the administrative authority suspended her.[9][10] A First Information Report was filed against the headmistress for criminal negligence, and police began searching for her. A district magistrate told the BBC that her property would be confiscated if she did not surrender to the authorities.[3][12] She was apprehended by police in Chhapra on 24 July and held on suspicion of murder and criminal conspiracy.[16][17] In October 2013 the headmistress and her husband were charged with murder and faced the death penalty if convicted.[18]
Bihar Government has taken steps to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. The government issued a toll-free number for all complaints related to Midday Meal. It also ordered that the raw grain samples would be kept for three months at Godowns from where items for Midday Meal are supplied.[5] A case was filed by Akhilanand Mishra (one of the victims). On 29 August 2016, headmistress Meena Kumari was sentenced to 17 years in prison for her role in the incident.[19]
Until a few months ago I had never even heard of the Bihar School of Yoga, Munger, or of its founder, Swami Satyananda Saraswati. One evening, a friend invited me to a yoga nidra session conducted by the BSY Bombay Ashram, but I was reluctant to attend as I felt sure that yoga was not for me.
However, out of sheer curiosity, I went, and I returned again and again thereafter. My initial misgivings were dispelled and I was impressed by the quality and depth of the practice. I felt immediately that this was something spiritual, not just a physical or psychological method of relaxation, and could appreciate the enormous benefit of this 30 to 40 minute technique. It is a practice that takes you deeper and deeper into the hidden recesses of your mind, into nooks and corners unknown to your conscious mind, and gradually into the beyond, should you persist in the practice with regularity. Each time it is a different experience.
Very soon I decided to go to Munger for a one month visit. In contrast to the other yoga schools I had visited I sensed much spirituality and truth there (irrespective of religion). Just prior to my visit, I had a very fresh and first time slipped disc and the pain was considerable. However, from the day I arrived at the ashram and started a regular practice of morning walks, pranayama and backward bending asanas, the pain completely disappeared.
I enrolled for the Teachers Training Course which had just started. Although basic, this course was an invaluably powerful and relaxing experience. Asanas, pranayama and simple sattvic diet contributed to enhancing one's awareness of body, mind and environment. It was a well integrated and total program which included practical work sessions in karma yoga. The cost of the course was low, and all inclusive.
Initially I was somewhat sceptical of all the sannyasins in gem, however, I soon discovered that I was looking through prejudiced eyes. Most of the sannyasins at BSY are a happy, sincere, relaxed and hard working lot, who sleep no more than 5 to 6 hours a day. Backgrounds range from Ph.D.'s and medical doctors to born spiritual adepts who have never gone through conventional education. As early as 2.30 a.m. you are woken up by people bathing and humming kirtans like 'Ananda Gopal', 'Shriman Narayan', 'Om Anandam'. In fact, when I went out for morning walks I often found the gatekeeper chanting 'Ommmmmm'.
The vibrations at Munger can be felt quite deeply. When I was there, Swami Satyananda was present throughout and so the energy field was particularly strong. A Bombay friend, who was also there during my stay, arrived with a diabetes count of 207 and in less than 3 weeks he was down to 130. His treatment consisted of normal ashram food without restriction as to quantity, some asanas, pranayama, yoga nidra and shavasana; no medicines. Another person in his late fifties from Hyderabad, crippled by spondylosis and angina over the years, was up and about without pain within a few days. There are innumerable cases who have benefited by attending courses at the ashram and living the simple way of life for a short period of time.