Around 300 kids at a local school in Bangalore were hurried to a health center after consuming government-provided mid-day meal. The harrowing incident is reminiscent of similar case last year where 23 children died after eating mid-day meals.

According to a pedagogue a dead lizard was found in one of the seven food containers provided under the welfare meal scheme at a government school in Bangalore.

That triggered panic among students and staff as food had already been served to quite a few kids.

"We forbid the kids from eating and rushed them to a hospital," said a teacher who was part of the school’s food management team Syeda Tabassum on Friday.

"Kids are out of danger now and most of them have been discharged from the hospital," she added.

It was not clear whether the lizard fell into the container at the school or where the food was prepared. Police officials were still groping in the dark.

The Bangalore school has been receiving meals under the scheme for the past 10 years, but had never faced a similar issue, Tabassum said. However, parents are now worried.   

"My child started vomiting after eating the food. We will not let her eat government food now … we just have one girl," a parent told a popular news channel.

The midday meal scheme, which gives more than 100 million school pupils a free lunch, is the largest such programme in the world. It has been widely lauded as one of the most successful welfare measures in India.

But last year, 23 children died after being poisoned by a school meal provided under the scheme, sparking violent protests in Bihar. Police said cooking oil used for the meals had been stored in a used pesticide container.

For millions of underprivileged families, the lunch is the only full meal their children eat in a day. That encourages them to send them to school and not keep them home to help with chores.