The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Sisodia orders inspection of all mid-day meal kitchens by Feb 24
RATS FOUND IN MID-DAY MEAL, 9 KIDS HOSPITALISED
AFTER DEAD rats were found in a mid-day meal being served to students at a government school on Thursday, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has ordered an inspection of all kitchens to look into the quality of food being served to the children. Secretary-level officers will carry out inspections in all 33 mid-day meal kitchens by February 24.
Nine students of the Government Boys Senior Secondary School in Deoli were hospitalised on Thursday after they complained of vomiting and stomach ache following the meal. Sisodia had blacklisted the NGO which supplied the meals, and said such acts of negligence could not be tolerated. On Friday, The Indian Express had reported that Kunwar Pal Singh, the Director of the NGO (Jan Chetna Jagriti & Shaikshanik Vikas), which cooked and supplied the food to the school, is the fatherin-law of AAP MLA from Ambedkar Nagar, Ajay Dutt.
On Saturday, Sisodia wrote to the Chief Secretary asking him to schedule mid-day meal inspections by senior officers of the government — belonging to the rank of principal secretary, secretary and head of departments (HOD).
The officers will be required to inspect the “kitchens, transportation of food, serving in schools and the overall cleanliness and hygiene of the process”.
“The health and safety of children in our schools is of paramount importance for us. That is why we are getting senior-most officers of our government to inspect the hygiene and cleanliness of the mid-day meal being served to children,” Sisodia wrote in the letter.
As of now, the mid-day meal for the school is being prepared by officials of the Directorate of Education (DOE). However, the DOE plans to ask interested vendors near the school to take up the job soon.
“We will ask vendors nearby who are willing to take on the responsibility because issuing a tender will take us three months, and we can’t wait that long,” a DOE official said.