Mirzapur: The Uttar Pradesh police has given a clean chit to a journalist who was booked for allegedly maligning the image of the state government after he shot a video showing just salt and rotis being served to students of a primary school here.
However, a representative of the village head who was also booked under the same charges in connection with the case, has not been cleared, police said.
The video, shot by journalist Pawan Jaiswal, of Shiur Primary School under Aharaura police station had gone viral on August 22, sparking an Opposition backlash against the BJP government in the state.
The state government had suspended two teachers and a case was registered against Jaiswal, a journalist with a Hindi daily, and the representative of Hinauta village head Rajkumar Pal for allegedly maligning the image of state government.
The case was registered 10 days after the video went viral.
“We have given a clean chit to the journalist as no evidence was found against him during our investigation,” Superintendent of Police Dharamvir Singh told PTI on Thursday.
Singh said Jaiswal was called by the gram pradhan’s representative to shoot the video in the school.
The police have filed a chargesheet against the representative of the gram pradhan, the district police chief said.
After the video was shared widely on social media, the National Human Rights Commission had also sought a report on the matter from the state.
The video showed a woman distributing rotis and another woman salt to children as the midday meal.
As per norms under the midday meal scheme, pulses, rice, rotis, vegetables with fruits and milk on certain days are to be served to schoolchildren to ensure necessary nutrition to them.
The midday meal scheme is designed to provide a minimum of 450 calories per child per day, which should include at least 12 grams of protein as well. These meals should be served to each child at least 200 days a year.
Also read: Editors Guild urges UP govt to withdraw cases against journalist who shot mid-day meal video
I am glad to know that even UP police can be sometimes Just. This was an avoidable harassment. Instead of punishing the school staff who stole vegetables, they punish the messenger. In our country, the process itself is a punishment.