The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has expressed its displeasure over such incidents and last week it shot off a letter to the state government stating: “Such incidents socially disrupt the society and create an ill will among the different sections. They also exhibit the vulnerable position of Dalits in the social structure...”

Talking to The Indian Express on phone, officials at the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment confirmed that a letter addressed to the UP Chief Minister Mayawati had been dispatched to the state government, this month. The officials also said that the minister, Meira Kumar, herself had taken a note of the incident. She had also asked the state government “to resolve such issues strictly and ensure that no such incidents reoccur from any part of the state.”

It is learnt that the ministry has also sought a detailed report from the state government regarding the incidents and the action—if any— it has taken.

The ministry officials, who refer to the case as “suppression of a Dalit woman”, stated that the Centre is seriously looking into the incidents since they have taken place in a state that is ruled by a Dalit leader.

The staffs at the office of the UP Chief Secretary admitted that they received a letter from Meira Kumar that has been forwarded to the concerned department and officials for further action.

The incidents date back to December 2007 when students of two government-run schools refused to eat the food prepared by Dalit cooks.

While Phool Kumari cooked food at Bibipur village school in Lucknow, two Dalit women— Surajmukhi and Kela Devi — prepared the food in Hazratpur village school in Etawah district. But in mid- December, the children in both the schools reportedly refused to eat food cooked by these women.