Meal Turns Menace: 60 Nalanda Students Fall Ill, NHRC Steps In
(By Syed Ali Taher Abedi)
New Delhi, 26 May 2026- The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken Suo motu cognizance of media reports that on 21 May 2026 approximately sixty schoolchildren in Nalanda district, Bihar, fell ill after consuming the mid‑day meal provided at a government school.
Reported symptoms included vomiting, abdominal pain, nausea and diarrhoea, and several pupils were admitted to nearby hospitals for treatment.
The Commission observed that, if the factual matrix presented in the press reports is borne out, the incident engages serious questions concerning the rights of the affected children to health, safety and dignity.
In the exercise of its statutory mandate, the NHRC has issued a formal notice to the District Magistrate, Nalanda, directing submission of a detailed report on the circumstances surrounding the episode, the medical status of the students, the action taken by school and district authorities, and steps proposed to prevent recurrence.
The District Magistrate has been afforded two weeks to furnish the requisite response.
Press accounts further allege that the meal was distributed without the mandatory tasting by supervising teachers, and that a teacher who later consumed the food also fell ill and required hospitalisation.
The NHRC’s intervention underscores the need for prompt, transparent inquiry and remedial measures to safeguard children who are beneficiaries of the mid‑day meal scheme.
