A dead rat was found in the dal meant to be served to primary students of the MCD School in Kondli, East Delhi on January 23. MCD Commissioner K S Mehra announced the suspension of school inspector for Shahdara South district S P Solanki, school principal Dharamveer Singh Tyagi and assistant teacher and in-charge, midday meals Satpal Singh following the incident.

The teachers organised a black ribbon protest on Sunday at the closing ceremony of the zonal games coaching camp for students. “The midday meal is delivered in sealed containers to the school where the teacher checks it before it is served to the children. The teacher in-charge of midday meals sent the food back once he discovered the dead rat. Instead of praising him for his vigilance, the commissioner has suspended him. Why will any teacher continue to work properly if the real culprits don’t get punished?” Shikshak Sangh secretary Vibha Singh asked.

The union has also threatened to go on a sit-down strike outside the office of the district commissioner for Shahdara South on Wednesday if the suspensions are not revoked.

The union said the supplier of the meal, NGO Manav Bharti, should have been punished for the error. “The owner of Manav Bharti, Chakresh Agarwal, came to the district commissioner’s office in front of about 20 teachers yesterday and accepted that the contaminated food was his responsibility. Yet, the MCD has punished teachers and not the NGO,” Singh said. Singh also alleged that the director for primary education, Premlata Kataria, was present when the NGO representatives made their statement. Kataria declined to comment on the issue, saying that a vigilance inquiry was being held in the matter.