UP school sacks dalit cook after students refuse to eat

A dalit cook was replaced with a Brahmin in a government-run primary school in Uttar Pradesh (UP) when students refused to eat the food cooked by the woman, officials said on Wednesday.

The incident took place at Lalgarhi Primary School in Firozabad district, about 300 km from here. The students refused to eat lunch provided under the mid-day meal (MDM) scheme.

“Most students were not eating the food cooked by Vimla Jatav, who belongs to a scheduled caste. School authorities replaced Jatav with a Brahmin cook,” a teacher said.
The teacher said Jatav was employed 15 days ago when the earlier cook from an upper caste left. “Nearly 140 of the 200 students did not eat lunch during this period,” he said.

The education department and the district administration are probing the incident. SK Rathore, chief development officer (CDO), who is also officiating as the district magistrate, said, “Social discrimination will not be allowed. We have already initiated a probe and will take necessary action.”

Neelu Mishra, MDM cocoordinator of the district, said: “If such an incident is reported in a school, its officials come under the scanner. Action will be taken against them.”