A viral video showed children in a Sheopur school eating mid-day meals on newspaper, leading to public and political backlash.
Rahul Gandhi criticised the BJP government, saying the incident exposed failures in basic welfare and dignity for children.
Officials later visited the school, issued suspensions, cancelled a food contract, and provided steel plates to prevent repeat incidents.
Rahul Gandhi Slams BJP Over Sheopur Mid-Day Meal Row; Says ‘20 Years of Rule, Children Still Suffer’
A government school in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district has come under scrutiny after a video showed children eating their mid-day meal on scraps of newspaper.
Summary
A primary school in Sheopur, Madhya Pradesh, has received stainless-steel plates after a video went viral showing pupils eating their mid-day meal off newspaper, prompting widespread criticism, including from Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.
Gandhi accused the BJP government of failing the state’s children, saying that after more than 20 years in power it had “even taken away their plates”, and that its claims of development were an “illusion”. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav “should be ashamed” of the incident.
The episode occurred on November 3 at a government primary school in Hullpur village, Vijaypur block. The footage, which showed children sitting on the floor and eating food placed on scraps of paper, led to the suspension of school in-charge Bhogiram Dhakad and the cancellation of the mid-day meal contract given to a local self-help group. The meals are provided under the national PM Poshan scheme.
Posting on X, Gandhi said the incident had deeply upset him, as “the dreams of the country rest on these children”, who were not even given “a plate with dignity”.
Gandhi was in Madhya Pradesh’s Pachmarhi for a Congress training camp under the party’s ‘Sangathan Srujan Abhiyan’ reorganisation drive. Before addressing the gathering, he met senior leaders including state Congress president Jitu Patwari, Assembly Opposition Leader Umang Singhar, former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh and former Union Ministers Arun Yadav and Kantilal Bhuria.
Meanwhile, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Abhishek Mishra and BJP leader and former minister Ramniwas Rawat visited the school to review food quality and distribution. A video released later showed children sitting on mats and being served properly in metal plates, with officials also eating beside them. Mishra said the situation was being monitored to prevent a repeat.
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While campaigning in Bihar, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav criticised Gandhi for being in Pachmarhi instead of canvassing, accusing Congress leaders of having “given up” in the state. He has not yet commented on the Sheopur incident.
On Saturday, Rawat and Mishra again joined pupils at the Hullpur school for the mid-day meal, with video on social media showing the premises tidied and students eating lunch on new steel plates.
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