Patna: A four-year-old boy died after falling into a pot of steaming daal (pulses) at a government school in Khusrupur area of rural Patna.

The boy, Dilkhush, was playing on the premises of Government Upgraded School at Khusrupur, 30km east of Patna, when the incident happened. His grandmother, Sheela Devi, works as the school's midday meal cook.

The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon and Dilkhush was admitted to the local government hospital in Khusrupur. He succumbed to his burn injuries on Friday.

According to Khusrupur police station house officer (SHO) Mritunjay Kumar, the daal prepared for students was kept in a huge utensil on the verandah of the school, where the boy was playing with other kids. "The family members, including the boy's mother, Pinky Devi, told us the boy slipped and fell into the utensil. The boy was admitted to the hospital where he died on Friday," Mritunjay said.

The incident exposes laxity on the part of both the education department and the police, as they had no idea about the incident when journalists asked them.

Khusrupur police came to know about the incident much later. District education officer Jyoti Kumar had no knowledge of it. Jyoti Kumar said: "I've come to know that something has happened and have asked officials to find out."

The boy's father Guddu Choudhary is in a Mumbai jail while his mother is a homemaker.

The death of boy exposes serious lapses on the part of education department in preparing midday meals. Many government schools in Bihar don't have proper kitchen sheds and food is prepared in the open. There is no separate room or shed to store cooked food as well.

There have been several reports of lizards and rodents falling into meals at schools. At least 23 students died and dozens fell ill at a primary school in Gandaman in Saran district after they ate a midday meal contaminated with pesticide in 2013.