Authorities in the Indian state of Bihar condemned the "gross negligence" of the principal of a school where 23 children died after eating lunch, rejecting charges the deaths represented a wider government failure.
In an interview Friday, R. Lakshmanan, who runs the Mid-Day Meals Scheme in Bihar under which dozens of children below 10 years of age were being fed in the village of Dharmasati Gandawan, said Tuesday's tragedy would not have happened if rules had been followed.