88 students out of hospital, but 9 still on saline

Of the 97 girls admitted to various city hospitals for food poisoning after consumption of food under the mid-day meal scheme, nine continue to be on saline while 88 have been discharged. The girls, in the age group of seven to 10, are students of standards I to VII at the PMC-run Sitaram Narayan Gawade School in Janta Vasahat.

For no fault of theirs: A seven-year-old student of Sitaram Narayan Gawade School undergoes treatment for food poisoning in Poona Hospital yesterday. Pic/Krunal Gosavi

Four officials of a self-help group (SHG) given the contract of providing mid-day meals to student of the school were arrested and released on bail on Saturday.The SHG had supplied around 500 idlis along with sambar to the school at 1 pm on Saturday, and the students took ill soon after eating. u00a0They were taken to private hospitals after complaining of stomachache, headache and nausea. FDA staff collected food samples served to the students for analysis.

Lesson learned
Purnima Khedekar (7), of Std I said from hospital, "The sambhar tasted sour but I had it. Soon my head started spinning and I collapsed. From now on I will be careful and won't eat if the food smells or tastes bad, I'm happy that I will be discharged tomorrow."u00a0Madhuri Khaire, headmistress of the school said, "We warned the SHG many times and told it to improve the quality of their food as it concerns the health of little children, but it ignored the warnings."

Discharge for 3 soon
Child specialist at Poona Hospital, Dr Lalit Rawal, confirmed that the students had suffered from food poisoning and most of them have been discharged, while the three still in hospital will be discharged today. "On Saturday, 63 students were admitted to hospital and 21 in day care centre," Rawal said.