# 35 Bihar students hospitalised after detergent mistaken for salt in mid-day meal 2026-08-19T20:48:04+00:00 | India | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet At least 35 students of a government school in Bihar's Nalanda district were hospitalised on Wednesday after consuming a mid-day meal in which detergent was allegedly added instead of salt. The incident occurred at Middle School in Parasi, under the Noorsarai police station area. The affected children were treated at Bihar Sharif Sadar Hospital, with some also admitted to facilities in Chandi and Andarsarai. Civil surgeon Dr Jayaprakash Singh said students complained of stomach pain and vomiting after eating the soybean rice meal. Samples of the food have been collected for testing, though the exact cause is yet to be confirmed. Locals said containers of salt and detergent were kept together in the kitchen, leading the cook to mistakenly use detergent. Bihar rural development minister Shravan Kumar visited the hospital and promised a detailed inquiry. The headmaster has been suspended, three cooks removed, and a show-cause notice issued to the NGO Ekta Shakti Foundation, which supplied the meal from a centralised kitchen in Ramghat. All students are reported out of danger. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Mid-day meal poisonings have recurred across Bihar despite a 2013 Supreme Court directive mandating strict hygiene protocols. The state runs one of India's largest school feeding programmes, covering over 1.5 crore children. This incident at a school relying on an NGO-run centralised kitchen raises questions about supervision at the point of cooking. The key gap here is the lack of segregation of kitchen supplies, a basic safety rule. Watch for the food inspector's report and whether the state acts on the promised inquiry within the usual 15-day deadline. ## Coverage - hindustantimes.com Straight factual report: leads with official numbers, quotes civil surgeon and minister, no emotive language or editorialising. This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Bihar, Ekta Shakti Foundation, mid-day meal, Nalanda, Shravan Kumar Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/35-bihar-students-hospitalised-after-detergent-mistaken-for-salt-in-mid-day-meal/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/35-bihar-students-hospitalised-after-detergent-mistaken-for-salt-in-mid-day-meal/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/