Dead rat in anganwadi wheat packet

Kollam: The foodgrain supplied by anganwadis to adolescent girls may also contain non-vegetarian items like dead rats.

That is what  Archana, daughter of K. Subhash  of Sarayoo Nagar near Ashramam here, found on Thursday when she opened a packet of wheat  she had got from the anganwadi under ‘Sabla’ or the Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls. 

There were three-four dead  rats in the packet. Further inspection at the  anganwadi warehouse led to the discovery of more rats in the sack.

Six wheat sacks weighing 60 kg  each were unloaded at the anganwadi  by the Civil Supplies Department, from which one sack was opened and 20 kg was distributed earlier. According to the Sabla scheme, six kg  of foodgrain is provided to girl children in the 11-18 age group  as take-home ration.

“The children would have suffered food poisoning and mental stress if the grain  had been  consumed,’’ said Dr. Babu Chandran, Deputy  DMO, Kollam.

Subhash, who is also a welfare committee member at the anganwadi, says  that almost all the foodgrain supplied, including rice, ragi, peas, etc., are substandard. He had complained several times to the Child Development Project Officer and Corporation’s Welfare Standing Committee, but with no results.

District Collector B. Mohanan said he had ordered an inquiry into the incident by the Department of Social Justice.