386 students hospitalised due to food poisoning in one year, says Seethakka

Panchayat Raj Minister Danasari Anusuya alias Seethakka admitted that cases of food poisoning took place in government residential schools and that the government was taking measures to set things right

Hyderabad: The State government, which came under severe criticism for not being able to check the incidents of food poisoning in government and residential schools in the State, on Tuesday informed the State Legislative Council that 386 students were hospitalised due to food poisoning in the last one year in the State.

Replying to a query raised by BRS members during the Question Hour, Panchayat Raj Minister Danasari Anusuya alias Seethakka admitted that cases of food poisoning took place in government residential schools and that the government was taking measures to set things right. She stated that 114 students were affected by food poisoning in Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society schools, 168 in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV), 49 in Telangana Tribal Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society while 55 students were affected by food poisoning during mid-day meals in government schools.

---

In order to ensure food safety, institution level food safety committees were constituted and Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) were issued for cooking to prevent food contamination and food borne illnesses, she said.

Centre’s claim on 100 percent drinking water connection in Telangana false, says Minister

The Panchayat Raj Minister said as per the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) website, Telangana was declared as one of the States that achieved 100 percent households with tap water supply by 2021. However, during a survey conducted by the State government in July, it was found that 4.49 lakh households in the State needed tap connections. The State government provided tap connections to 3.21 lakh households and efforts were being made to provide water to 1.28 lakh households, she said.

Fee Reimbursement to a tune of Rs.4,980.18 crore pending

Seethakka informed the House that fee reimbursement to the tune of Rs.4,980.18 crore was pending and that efforts were being made to release the amount at the earliest.

Raising the issue during the Question Hour, BRS member S Vani Devi said since the government was not releasing the fee reimbursement amount the educational institutions were suffering a lot. The government pays a part of the fees and the remaining the students had to pay and since the government was not releasing the amount in time, both the institutions and students were suffering, she said.

Rs.1064 crore ‘Mana Ooru – Mana Badi works bills pending: Health Minister

Health Minister C Damodar Raja Narasimha informed that the ‘Mana Ooru – Mana Badi’ works were not progressing as the government was not releasing pending bills to a tune of Rs.1064 crore. He also admitted that the infrastructure in government schools were not up to the mark and that the children were suffering due to poor facilities.