Dalit Students Asked to Wash Mid-day Meal Utensils, Keep Them Separate in UP’s Mainpuri

A school principal here was suspended and two cooks terminated over complaints that scheduled caste students were asked to wash their mid-day meal utensils themselves and keep them separate, a senior official said Sunday.

Chief Development Officer Vinod Kumar said the action was taken after village pradhan Manju Devi’s husband Saheb Singh filed a complaint Saturday, alleging SC students were being discriminated against at the government primary school in Dodapur in Bewar block.

Singh said in the complaint that the SC students, around 80 in all, unlike others were made to clean their utensils after eating the meal and asked to keep them separate.

Upon receiving the complaint, the CDO, along with Basic Shiksha Adhikari Kamal Singh and project director KK Singh, inspected the school and its kitchen, and found the allegations true, the officer said. Taking cognisance of the matter, the CDO terminated the services of the cooks on the spot and suspended principal Garima Singh Rajput on the charges of dereliction of duty, he said.