In what has become a chilling and tragically familiar pattern, two separate food scandals in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri district have highlighted a severe crisis of governance and neglect. Within days of each other, a dead frog was found in food served at a hostel, and worms were discovered in a meal at an Anganwadi centre. Such incidents not only suggest failure of food safety procedures on the part of the state government but also suggest the profound indignity faced by children battling malnutrition in Madhya Pradesh.
The most recent case occurred at an Anganwadi in Ward No. 4, Karaira tehsil, where angry parents confronted officials after finding worms in the dal served to their children. Mothers who witnessed the incident demanded immediate action, accusing the system of "playing with the lives of our children." The food supplier reportedly fled the scene when confronted by Anganwadi workers.
This followed a similar incident just a day earlier at the Jagatpura hostel in Kolaras tehsil, where a dead frog was found in the vegetables served to students. The students themselves brought the incident to light by sharing photographs and accusing the hostel warden of gross negligence.
Also read: Madhya Pradesh police to fill 22,500 entry-level posts in 3 yrs
S Shekharan, a Project Officer with the Women and Child Development Department, confirmed that worms were found in the dal and stated that a notice had been issued and an inquiry launched. However, his defence that "no other Anganwadi has reported complaints" seems hollow given the state's persistent issue with child malnutrition and child mortality.
The headlines about these food scandals are tragically intertwined with reports of child deaths from malnutrition. Just days before the Anganwadi incident, 15-month-old Divyanshi of Shivpuri died weighing only 3.7 kg. She had previously been flagged as malnourished with dangerously low haemoglobin levels under the government’s Dastak Abhiyan. This was followed by the death of Radhika, a tribal girl from Sheopur, who died at 1.5 years old, weighing just 2.5 kg— a quarter of what a healthy child should weigh. Her mother said Radhika was healthy at birth but began wasting away within months. Another toddler in Bhind district also died in July, further highlighting an unmistakable pattern of neglect.
Madhya Pradesh is still the centre of child malnutrition in India. The state is home to an estimated 1 million malnourished children, of whom 136,000 are severely wasted. The admissions to Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres in tribal blocks have been increasing, from 11,566 in 2020-21 to 20,741 in 2024-25. The state's child under five years' malnutrition rate stands at a whopping 7.79 per cent, way above the all-India average of 5.40 pc. Also, 57 pc of women in the state are anaemic, a condition that transmits weakness to the next generation before birth.
Barring an allocation of ₹4,895 crore for nutrition, children continue to die. Critics attribute this to systemic corruption and political will failure. An earlier ₹858 crore scam in food procurement, came to the forefront and verified by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), has seen little accountability. Though the government boasts of having introduced innovations in certain districts, the harsh truth is one of worms in dal and frogs on platters, as bereaved families are left to weep over their starving children. The crisis is no longer simply that of poverty; it is a blatant failure of governance.
Follow us
