As many as 116 students from the Dr B.R. Ambedkar Gurukulam Social Welfare Residential School in Naidupeta, Tirupati district, have been hospitalized due to food poisoning.
The situation unfolded on Sunday night when the students began complaining of severe stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhoea. The residential school staff immediately alerted the health authorities. Emergency response teams arrived at the school around midnight and began transporting the affected students to nearby government hospitals in Naidupeta, Gudur and Sullurpeta.
Two students, whose conditions were deemed critical, were rushed to a Nellore hospital for intensive care. Social welfare minister Dola Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy, who visited the affected students at Gudur Government Hospital, stressed the state government's commitment to student welfare and promised a thorough investigation. Health minister Satya Kumar has also been closely monitoring the situation.
District collector S. Venkateswar personally oversaw the crisis response. "Of the 520 students in the residential school, 116 fell ill.
While the situation was initially dire, all the children, including those in a critical condition, are now stable." The collector has ordered a probe and suspended the school principal, hostel warden, health officer and one more staff after an initial investigation revealed significant lapses in hygiene at the hostel mess and school premises. "Such lapses will not be tolerated.
We are committed to taking strict act.
