The Crossbill News Desk
In Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district, a government primary school in the remote village of Hullapur has become the focus of a nationwide controversy — and an equally swift government response, news agency PTI reported.
A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi posted a video showing schoolchildren eating their mid-day meal off old newspapers, the same school has undergone an overnight transformation, with stainless steel plates distributed to students, classrooms cleaned, and officials rushing to repair the damage to their image.
The viral video had triggered outrage across social media, highlighting the stark gap between official claims of progress and the lived reality of children in rural India. Rahul Gandhi, sharing the footage, accused the ruling BJP of failing to provide even the basic dignity of a plate to schoolchildren.
“These are the same innocent children on whose dreams the future of the country rests,” he wrote, adding that the prime minister and the chief minister should feel “ashamed” of nurturing the nation’s future “in such a pitiable state.”
By Saturday, the visuals from Hullapur told a different story. The dusty schoolyard had been swept clean, its walls freshly painted, and children were seen sitting in neat rows, eating from gleaming steel plates.
The makeover was accompanied by senior officials and local BJP leaders joining the students for a meal in a public attempt to signal accountability. Former state minister Ramniwas Rawat and sub-divisional magistrate Abhishek Mishra were among those present.
“Today, our entire team visited the spot and inspected the food. It was found that the meal was properly served on plates. I myself, along with public representatives, also ate the meal there,” Mishra told PTI, adding that authorities would ensure “no such incident happens again.”
The district administration promptly cancelled the contract of the self-help group that had been managing the mid-day meal scheme, transferring responsibility to the school management committee. School in-charge Bhogiram Dhakad was suspended, and two other staff members were issued notices for negligence.
The episode has reignited discussion about the intersection of poverty, governance, and dignity in public welfare.
In a nation that often celebrates its youth as the promise of tomorrow, the image of children eating from scraps of newspaper has come to symbolise a collective failure — one that a quick cleanup cannot easily erase.
In Hullapur, as sunlight reflected off the newly issued steel plates, the gesture seemed less about optics and more about remorse — a tacit acknowledgement that a child’s meal, as simple as it may be, deserves the respect that comes with it.
A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi posted a video showing schoolchildren eating their mid-day meal off old newspapers, the same school has undergone an overnight transformation, with stainless steel plates distributed to students, classrooms cleaned, and officials rushing to repair the damage to their image.
The viral video had triggered outrage across social media, highlighting the stark gap between official claims of progress and the lived reality of children in rural India. Rahul Gandhi, sharing the footage, accused the ruling BJP of failing to provide even the basic dignity of a plate to schoolchildren.
“These are the same innocent children on whose dreams the future of the country rests,” he wrote, adding that the prime minister and the chief minister should feel “ashamed” of nurturing the nation’s future “in such a pitiable state.”
आज मध्य प्रदेश जा रहा हूं।
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 8, 2025
और जब से ये खबर देखी है कि वहां बच्चों को मिड-डे मील अख़बार पर परोसा जा रहा है, दिल टूट सा गया है।
ये वही मासूम बच्चे हैं जिनके सपनों पर देश का भविष्य टिका है, और उन्हें इज़्ज़त की थाली तक नसीब नहीं।
20 साल से ज्यादा की BJP सरकार, और बच्चों की थाली… pic.twitter.com/ShQ2YttnIs
By Saturday, the visuals from Hullapur told a different story. The dusty schoolyard had been swept clean, its walls freshly painted, and children were seen sitting in neat rows, eating from gleaming steel plates.
The makeover was accompanied by senior officials and local BJP leaders joining the students for a meal in a public attempt to signal accountability. Former state minister Ramniwas Rawat and sub-divisional magistrate Abhishek Mishra were among those present.
“Today, our entire team visited the spot and inspected the food. It was found that the meal was properly served on plates. I myself, along with public representatives, also ate the meal there,” Mishra told PTI, adding that authorities would ensure “no such incident happens again.”
The district administration promptly cancelled the contract of the self-help group that had been managing the mid-day meal scheme, transferring responsibility to the school management committee. School in-charge Bhogiram Dhakad was suspended, and two other staff members were issued notices for negligence.
The episode has reignited discussion about the intersection of poverty, governance, and dignity in public welfare.
In a nation that often celebrates its youth as the promise of tomorrow, the image of children eating from scraps of newspaper has come to symbolise a collective failure — one that a quick cleanup cannot easily erase.
In Hullapur, as sunlight reflected off the newly issued steel plates, the gesture seemed less about optics and more about remorse — a tacit acknowledgement that a child’s meal, as simple as it may be, deserves the respect that comes with it.
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