Tribal student of Telangana residential school succumbs to food poisoning

Hyderabad, Nov (IANS) Nearly a month after falling critically ill due to food poisoning at a tribal welfare residential school, a 16-year-old student succumbed at a hospital here on Monday.

C. Shailaja breathed her last at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) on Monday

She was one of the 60 students who had taken ill at the residential school at Wankidi in Kumaram Bheem Asifabad district on October 30.

The students complained of vomiting and diarrhea after having dinner at the school. They were all shifted to a nearby government hospital.

As the condition of three female students, including Shailaja, was critical, they were shifted to Hyderabad and admitted to NIMS.

While two students recovered and were subsequently discharged, Shailaja's condition remained critical, and she finally lost the battle for life.

The ninth-class student was put on a ventilator.

Doctors said the girl was not responding to the treatment and had developed kidney problems and lung infection.

The police shifted the body to Gandhi Hospital for autopsy. As the situation was tense at the hospital, a large number of policemen were deployed as a precautionary measure.

After the autopsy, the girl’s body was taken to her native village with the police escort.

Meanwhile, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has blamed the state government for the death of the student and demanded Rs 50 lakh compensation for her family.

BRS leader T. Harish Rao said the state government was responsible for the death the tribal student. He alleged that the government tried to hush up the student’s death by shifting the body to her native place in a hurry.

BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao slammed Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy for not visiting the hospital even once to see the student. He said the residential schools should be safe but every month three students are dying due to the government’s negligence.

Rama Rao also criticised the Chief Minister for not having an education minister in his Cabinet.

On Saturday, BRS leader K Kavitha visited the student at NIMS and expressed her outrage over the situation. She alleged that since the Congress-led government took power in Telangana, 42 students have died from food poisoning in government schools. She blamed the poor quality of meals served in these schools for the tragic deaths.