At least 21 children in India have died after eating a tainted school meal.

 

　　The poisoning happened at a government school in India's eastern state of Bihar.

 

　　Over 50-children below the age of 12 fell sick and are now being hospitalized.

 

　　It is suspected that either insecticide or contaminated vegetable oil could be the cause of the poisoning.

 

　　A probe has now been launched.

 

　　Each family of the dead has been offered over 3-thousand US dollars in compensation.

 

　　India's Education Minister, M. M. Pallam Raju.

 

　　"We have taken a serious note of what has happened and our additional secretary who looks after the midday meal programme is already in Bihar and he will gather information first hand."

 

　　The free food is provided to the children under a federal government scheme aimed at boosting school enrollments for poor children and providing them with a nutritious diet.

 

　　The Mid-Day Meal Scheme is the world's largest school feeding scheme covering over 12 million children across India.

 

　　But critics of the school meal scheme complain about poor hygiene and rampant corruption for the poisonous outbreaks.