Many students fell sick, vomited and some fainted after consuming food from two of the hostel messes at the institute.
round 100 students of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge and Technologies (RGUKT) in Basara town of Telangana’s Nirmal district took ill on Friday due to suspected food poisoning. Students complained of vomiting and loose motions after lunch at PUC-1 and PUC-2 hostels. Some of them fell unconscious.
Authorities at RGUKT, popularly known as IIIT Basara, provided first aid to affected students in the premises by calling doctors from Nirmal and Bhainsa towns. Those who fell unconscious were shifted to hospitals in Nizamabad.
According to the Student Governing Council (SGC) of the institution, students who ate at two of the three messes at the institute fell sick. One mess serves 3,000 students while the other serves around 2,500 students. These two are handled by same contractor. The students were served egg fried rice for lunch at the two hostels. The food was prepared at the same place.
“After lunch, students started feeling gentle stomach ache. Soon by evening, many have started to experience dizziness. A large set of students have vomitted and fainted in various places in hostel rooms. Few have experienced shortness of breath,” the SGC said in a series of tweets.
“Immediately, all the students who are serious are admitted in the hospital. Some are sent to nearby PHC for additional treatment. Checkup and medication is being done at the hostel gate for students in parallel,” the student council said. The council added that it is not yet known what exactly caused the bout of food poisoning.
On learning about the incident, Forest Minister A Indrakaran Reddy, who comes from the same district, spoke to IIIT Director Satish Kumar. District Collector Musharraf Ali Faruqui tweeted on Friday evening that students have received treatment and are recovering. The situation is under control, he said.
“All are safe & stable in IIIT Basar. No need to worry. Situation is under control. 14 teams of Doctors & paramedical are attending. Im monitoring situation at location. 20 shifted to higher facility are also stable,” he tweeted.
The incident came less than a month after students had staged a week-long protest demanding better quality food, drinking water and other amenities at the institute. The students had complained that the food being served in the hostel mess is of poor quality. They alleged that on several occasions, small insects and frogs were found in the hostel food.
Read TNM’s report on the protests: Behind the IIIT Basara student protest: Inadequate govt funds and apathy
They had called off their week-long protest on June 21 after Education Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy visited the institute and gave an assurance that their problems will be solved in a phased manner. The students had been demanding the appointment of a regular Vice Chancellor and improvement in quality of food and other basic amenities.
#Telangana: Basar IIIT students hospitalised following a reported "food poisoning".The state run tech institute was in news over students agitation earlier in the last month over the allegations of govt negligence,flawed operations.@thenewsminute pic.twitter.com/ewD5elnzqs
— CharanTeja (@CharanT16) July 15, 2022
