Beltangady : it has been gathered that students of the Government Lower Primary School at Surya in Beltangady  taluk, on February 7, Thursday refused to  have food prepared by a Dalit cook. Reports said the parents of the children on coming to know that a Dalit woman was preparing food, took the children home for lunch. Out of the 41 students in the school only 8 had meals at the school on Thursday.

Though the school earlier had two cooks, one of them had resigned after she was elected a GP member. A new appointment Sumitra, a  Dalit woman had reported to duty on Thursday. Gathering hint of this, parents decided that their children should not have food cooked by the Dalit woman.

Shocked by the development, the school management informed the education department and police authorities. Their arrival and holding talks too did not yield any result. In the meantime, several leaders have condemned the incident and have warned protest.