Palghar: Days after the death of a 7-year-old student of a residential school in Maharashtra's Palghar, authorities launched a health screening drive to assess students' condition and reviewed hygiene and other arrangements, officials said.

Following the incident, 30 students from the school showing symptoms of cold, cough and fever were kept under observation at different hospitals in the district, they said.

A Class 1 student at the ashram school in Maswan developed high fever on August 22 and was taken to the local Primary Health Centre. The fever, however, returned on Monday, and he was shifted to the Rural Hospital in Manor, where doctors declared him dead, an official said earlier.

The school superintendent was later suspended for "gross negligence" in the discharge of duties, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspected the institution's kitchen and collected grocery items for laboratory analysis.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to conduct a detailed inquiry into the student's death, fix responsibility and recommend preventive measures, officials earlier said.

On Wednesday, the Palghar Zilla Parishad's health department launched a comprehensive screening drive at the school, which houses 395 resident students out of 449 total enrollees, and reviewed its hygiene, drinking water arrangements and medical response protocols.

Medical teams collected blood, serum, throat swabs of students and water samples from the premises and sent them for testing to ascertain the source of infection, officials said.

All remaining students at the school were stable and out of danger, they said.

Meanwhile, local organisation Shramjeevi Sanghatana's president Sita Ghatal visited the school and urged the state government to take over its management and convert it into a fully government-run facility.

The school primarily accommodates children from the vulnerable Katkari community and migrant tribal families from Dahanu and surrounding regions, she noted.

The government must guarantee round-the-clock emergency medical care, clean drinking water, adequate nutrition and quality educational infrastructure to protect the lives and future of tribal students, she said.

This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.