Kavitha visits Wankidi food poisoning victim; criticises conditions in welfare hostels

Kavitha urged the administration to take corrective measures to restore safety in the institutions and ensure quality of education in the State.

Hyderabad: Raising serious concerns over the deteriorating conditions in government-run schools and welfare hostels and the worsening state of affairs in the education sector, BRS leader and MLC K Kavitha said students were paying a heavy price as scant attention was being paid to safety in schools and institutions.

She visited a girl student, Shailaja from the Wankidi Ashram school, who is battling for her life at NIMS on Saturday. The girl was hospitalised due to severe food poisoning and has been put on ventilator as her condition continued to deteriorate.

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Kavitha expressed her distress over the frequent incidents of food poisoning in government schools, which have resulted in the deaths of 42 students over the last 11 months. She criticized the State government for its indifference towards the safety of students. She stated that the lives of young children should be a top priority and immediate actions must be taken to address the issue.

“Despite the government being in power for 11 months, an average of three children per month have died due to food poisoning in government schools. This means the government is responsible for the loss of one child’s life every 10 days,” Kavitha said, demanding that the families of the deceased students be compensated with Rs.10 lakh each.

Highlighting the deteriorating conditions in government schools across the State, from Adilabad to Alampur, she called for urgent measures to revive the health and safety standards in these institutions. She pointed out that education continued to be under the Chief Minister’s purview, which might be causing a lack of dedicated attention to these critical issues.

She suggested that even a 10-minute review by the Chief Minister could make a significant difference in saving young lives. Referring to a recent incident in Narayanpet hostel where children fell ill due to contaminated food, Kavitha noted that another similar incident occurred the very next day in the same school after the Chief Minister’s review. She also mentioned that students were protesting against these conditions.

Kavitha reminded that the students from government schools aspired to join prestigious institutions like IITs and IIMs or dreamt of scaling Mount Everest during the BRS regime. But it was otherwise today. She urged the administration to take corrective measures to restore safety in the institutions and ensure quality of education in the State.