PATNA, India—In a threadbare hospital here, 5-year-old Rashmi Kumari is fighting a powerful poison. "She is a brilliant student," said her uncle as he tried to distract her by asking her to recite poems.
Rashmi is also the only child in her household left alive.
Her cousins, Anshu and Kushboo, died after eating a school lunch now believed to have been contaminated with a pesticide compound, according to a hospital official. The disaster has left at least 22 children dead as of late Wednesday and spotlights the shortcomings in a government school-lunch program intended to feed India's millions of malnourished students.
[image] Aftab Alam Siddiqui/Associated Press
Inside an ambulance, an Indian man cradles his dead daughter, who had fallen ill after eating a school lunch.
Initial investigations suggest that organophosphorus, commonly used in farm pesticides, may have been mixed into the rice, beans and potato curry served Tuesday at an elementary school in Gandaman, a village in the impoverished state of Bihar, according to Amarkant Jha Amar, medical superintendent at the hospital.
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The students became sick and suffered from vomiting, fainting and foaming at the mouth. More than two dozen victims are still being treated. Mr. Amar said patients are receiving medicine to neutralize the chemical, which is similar to nerve agents such as sarin.
It remains unclear how or where the chemical got into the food. A state-level investigation is under way and the first report is expected Thursday, according to local police and a district magistrate.
On Wednesday in the Medical College and Hospital in the state capital of Patna, some 65 miles from the village, children cried in pain as they lay in bed. Some, like 5-year-old Rashmi, had family by their side.
"All the three children of our family fainted after having food," said her uncle, Dharmendra Kumar. "We were working in fields, and rushed them to the local hospital."
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The little girl was later transferred to Patna. She is responding to treatment and could be discharged in a couple of days. "Will go to school once I am fine," she said from her hospital bed.
The state's education minister, P.K. Shahi, said the school's cook noticed a strange color and foul smell from the cooking oil when preparing lunch. Children also complained about the food, he said.
He said the cook informed the school's headmistress. After tasting the food, the cook also became ill and was hospitalized.
According to Mr. Shahi, police were looking for the headmistress and her husband. Mr. Shahi said the headmistress would sometimes shop for provisions at her husband's grocery store, although he didn't specify whether it was her only source.
Sujeet Kumar, superintendent of police in Chapra district, where the school is located, said the headmistress may have fled after the deaths for fear of parents' reactions. "A case of criminal negligence will be filed against her for absconding," he said.
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“ What a terrible tragedy. Not sure what to say to console a grieving parent at the loss of their child. ”
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Attempts to reach the headmistress through the school were unsuccessful.
Hundreds of local residents on Wednesday took to the streets, setting fire to four police vans. Television footage showed police armed with sticks, or lathis, beating a man in the street. The protests have been brought under control, the police superintendent said.
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Asha Devi holds her head while sitting with her daughter, Savita, who became sick after eating a school lunch.
More than 20 policemen and an anti-riot vehicle were at the hospital Wednesday in Patna, where medical students were helping to treat the ill.
In one bed, Prakash Kumar fanned his unconscious nephew Prince. School attendance on Tuesday was particularly high, Prakash Kumar said, because the students expected free books to be handed out. "Most children had gone to the school for books," he said. Usually, "the attendance is never so good."
The children were initially taken to Sadar hospital in Chapra and later transferred to Patna, said Chapra District Magistrate Abhijeet Sinha.
India is in the process of introducing one of the most ambitious food-aid programs ever attempted, with the aim of distributing cheap grains to around 70% of the country's 1.2 billion people. The National Food Security Law is likely to be approved when Parliament reconvenes next month.
Critics say the legislation, which is expected to swell the annual food subsidy bill to around $20 billion, is an attempt by the ruling Congress party to attract support ahead of the national election in 2014, and that the money would be better spent on improving agricultural infrastructure.
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A woman cries after her grandson died after consuming meals at a school in eastern India.
In the current program that provides student lunches, called the "midday meal" plan, the central government each year distributes about 2.5 million metric tons of grain to about 600,000 schools and also provides grants for other ingredients such as vegetables and oil. The program aims to ensure children at public schools get at least one hot meal a day, at no charge.
The program is centrally administered by the Food Corporation of India, the country's main agency for food procurement. It distributes food to states, which, in turn, implement the program.
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Indian policemen charged a demonstrator Wednesday as hundreds of villagers protested a spate of health scares linked to a public school-lunch program.
There have been previous cases of children falling sick after eating meals from this program, though this one is particularly deadly. Mr. Amar said he has never seen anything like it in his 34-year career. He has, however, treated children after lizards, cockroaches and rats were found in midday meals. "In all of my career in Bihar, I've seen some 10 such cases," he said.
N.C. Saxena, who was appointed by the Supreme Court in 2001 to oversee the midday-meal program, said cases of children falling sick are isolated. "I am not saying the quality is very good. That is a concern, but when we cook the food, most bacteria and germs die," he said.
Because the Indian government guarantees the purchase of staples like wheat and rice from farmers, its warehouses are overflowing with far more grain than is needed for subsidized food programs. As a result, grain sometimes ends up being stored in poor conditions for long periods of time, where it can spoil.
—Biman Mukherji and Joanna Sugden contributed to this article.
ing the :tinfoil: crowd...