A total of 78 students of a government-run school in Chhattisgarh’s Balodabazar district were administered anti-rabies vaccine after they consumed mid-day meals contaminated by a stray dog, an official said on Saturday.

The incident took place on July 29 at Government Middle School in Lachchhanpur under Palari block and a probe is underway into the chain of events, he said.

“A stray dog contaminated cooked vegetables that were to be served to school students as part of their mid-day meal. Some of the students informed the teachers about the incident. Teachers had asked the self-help group that cooked the food to not serve it but they went ahead claiming it was not contaminated. A total of 84 students had food,” he said.

The students then narrated the incident in their homes after which parents and villagers approached the school, including its management committee chairperson Jhalendra Sahu, for clarifications, said Umashankar Sahu, father of one of the students. The villagers sought the removal of the SHG for ignoring instructions on not serving allegedly contaminated food, he said.

“The anti-rabbies vaccine was administered as a precautionary measure, not because of confirmed infection. There is no side effect of the first dose. It was done on the demand of villagers, parents and SMC (school management committee) members,” said Lachhanpur health centre in charge Veena Verma.

On Saturday, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Deepak Nikunj and block education officer Naresh Verma along with other officials visited the school to initiate a probe into the matter. They recorded statements of the children, parents, teachers and school management committee members. However, members of the SHG did not join the investigation, the official added.

Meanwhile, local MLA Sandeep Sahu wrote to Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai demanding a probe into the incident and action against the culprits. He also sought to know on whose instructions the children were given anti-rabies injections.

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