A school headmaster and a cluster resource centre coordinator (CRCC) were suspended in Ganjam district after a team of National Human Rights Commission was dissatisfied with quality of rice meant for mid-day meal and unhygienic condition in the premises.
Those placed under suspension on Saturday are Prakash Patra, headmaster of Jagannath Upper Primary school at Patapur and its CRCC Prafulla Kumar Behera, said District Education Officer (DEO) Sanatan Panda.
The DEO has also issued show cause notice to the block education officer (BEO) of Patapur, Hari Nayak.
The administration swung into action following the reported dissatisfaction of the three-member team of NHRC on the quality of the rice meant for the mid-day meal (MDM) and the hygienic condition of the school premises during its visit to the school on October 29, sources said.
"We directed suspension of the head master and CRCC as they allegedly used inferior quality of rice in mid-day meal though good quality of rice was available in the stock. Neither the head master nor the CRCC has drawn the attention of authorities to loss of quality of the stocked rice in the cyclone Hudhud," said DEO.
The duty of the CRCC is to inspect the schools entrusted to him at least once a month and to report to the higher authorities, he said.
While good quality of rice was stocked in the school, the headmaster had shown the inferior quality of rice to the visiting team. Moreover, the condition of the school premises remained unhygienic. The attendance of the students was also not taken till 11 am on that particular day, he said.
During its visit, the NHRC team had inspected the quality of rice meant for MDM, hygienic condition of school premises and overall atmosphere.
