The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the city government to pay over Rs four lakh as compensation to 126 students who fell ill after consuming mid-day meal in a state-run school here last month. "The scheme has public character. It is the obligation of the state to see that it is properly worked out. No one becomes a victim and suffers from any kind of health hazard due to consumption of bad food. Here there can be no shadow of doubt that the state has to pay the compensation," a Division Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Madan B Lokur said. It asked the NCT government to pay Rs 15,000 to Pooja,who was admitted in ICU,Rs 10,000 each to three other girls-Lakshmi,Poonam and Tarnnum and Rs 5000 to Gayatri,who were admitted in a hospital soon after eating the meal. In addition,the court also directed the government to pay Rs 3000 each to 121 other students who were taken ill after eating the mid-day meal. "Young children suffered physical pain and mental agony. The mental shock of a child who goes to the casualty ward can be well imagined. The children who were admitted in ICU have suffered more than others. The psychology of young children has to be understood in proper prospective," the Court said. The Bench passed the order on a PIL seeking direction to the government for implementation of Supreme Court's guidelines relating to mid-day meal scheme and asked the NCT government if the NGO was blacklisted or not. The bench rejected the submission of the government that only four children were hospitalised due to stomach infection and the rest of them only had a psychological problem following the incident and felt nausea and had stomach ache. Harit Recyclers Association,an NGO,filed the PIL seeking the court's direction for a probe and prosecution of officers responsible for such incident,besides compensation for the victims. At least five girl students out of 126 in government girls' MiddleSchool in Hauz Qazi,Lal Kuan area in old Delhi fell sick and others suffered from nausea and stomach ache after eating the mid- ay meal provided by an NGO,on May 6.
