Officials contemplate ways to end scourge of stale food in welfare hostels Premium

Health supervisors appointed to conduct surprise checks to ensure compliance of the rule book

Instances of food poisoning, caused due to consumption of stale or unhygienically cooked meal by students of social welfare residential schools in the State, in quick succession has made the officials sit up and take notice.

Reports of students falling sick, many of them even hospitalised, with complaints of stomach pain or cramps, nausea, vomiting, fever or diarrhoea have been surfacing all too often spurring the officials at the helm of the departments concerned to initiate quick and effective remedial measures.

A draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) formulated in the aftermath of the recent food poisoning incidents, is being circulated among the stakeholders. “We have conducted a series of meetings, discussing a set of dos and don’t’s for the local managements, teachers, staff, helpers and others at the welfare institutions to ensure health safety of the children,” said G. Jayalakshmi, Principal Secretary, Backward Classes (BC) Welfare Department. She also holds additional charge of the post of Principal Secretary, Social Welfare Department.

The quality of food served to children in these hostels has taken centre stage. “We have passed strict instructions that the quality of food should not be compromised under any circumstances. The wardens and the caretakers should stay put on the campus even on weekends and eat the food that is served to the children,” she says.

To ensure use of quality groceries to cook food, the Department is contemplating departure from the past practice of procuring the groceries from the district committees, barring rice supplied by the Civil Supplies Department. “We may ask the Civil Supplies wing to provide us the remaining groceries also, besides rice,” she says.

To effectively monitor health of the students, a new policy of mandatory medical check-up of all students at the entry level will be introduced from next year.

“Currently, we have only an entrance exam for admissions. We will make a standard medical check-up mandatory while admitting students in these schools, as it will help us know if a student is suffering from any congenital ailment. Students will also be examined for anaemia deficiency,” Ms. Jayalakshmi says citing a recent example of a boy who suffered a seizure in Anantapur. The ailment was traced to a congenital problem and a surgery was performed as part of the treatment.