Twenty-One Students Hospitalised After Mid-Day Meal in Kota School
More than 100 children ate the meal; 21 developed symptoms of food poisoning within two hours and were taken to hospital.
Kota1 min read
Last updated
Twenty-one students from a government school in Kota, Rajasthan, were hospitalised on or around 24 August 2026 after consuming a mid-day meal that left them with symptoms of food poisoning.
More than 100 students had eaten the meal. Within two hours several began experiencing vomiting, dizziness and headaches. Officials ordered a probe into the quality of the food supplied under the mid-day meal scheme.
The incident follows similar episodes in other states and keeps public attention on the implementation of the national school feeding programme. Local authorities have not yet released laboratory results or named the supplier.
Parents and local representatives have demanded accountability. The school administration and district education officials are coordinating the medical response and the investigation.
Mid-day meals remain a core component of India’s effort to improve nutrition and school attendance among children from lower-income households. Repeated contamination cases undermine confidence in the programme and force repeated administrative reviews.
The Kota episode is the latest data point in that pattern. The outcome of the laboratory tests and any subsequent action against the supplier will determine whether this case produces systemic changes or remains an isolated failure.
