Civic body now wants parents to decide on its milk supply scheme

Following an incident of milk poisoning in a Sewri civic school last week, the civic body will now let parents decide if they want the civic body to continue supplying milk to schools.

Following an incident of milk poisoning in a Sewri Civic School last week, the civic body will now let parents decide if they want the civic body to continue supplying milk to schools.

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Four students in the Prabodhankar Thackeray civic school were admitted to the hospital on September 14 after drinking milk supplied by the civic body. The scheme has been suspended there and will remain so until the inquiry report.

“The school management committees will be asked to take the opinion of the parents on whether the milk supply should continue. We will take a decision based on their opinion. If the majority don’t want milk supplied, it could be stopped,” said Mohan Adtani, additional municipal commissioner.

Activists have ridiculed the move. “The decision does not make any sense. Does it mean that the parents and the SMCs will be held responsible if any untoward incident occurs after children drink BMC milk?” said Nitin Wadhvani, child rights activist. The BMC should instead ask the SMCs to monitor the quality of the food, he said. The civic has only six food inspectors for around 1,100 civic schools.