Telangana Govt constitutes Task Force Committee on food safety in State run educational institutions

Telangana Government forms Task Force to ensure food safety in institutions after recent food poisoning incidents.

Telangana Government has announced its decision to constitute Task Force Committee to develop institutional mechanism for ensuring food safety in schools, welfare hostels, residential educational institutions, anganwadi centres and hospitals.

The Task Force will comprise of food safety commissioner/food safety officer, head of institution concerned/additional director and district level officer of the institution. The decision comes in the light of not so infrequent reports relating to incidents of food poisoning in the State run institutions.

A 16-year-old student C. Shailaja succumbed after a food poisoning incident at Tribal Welfare Residential School in Kumaram Bheem Asifaba. Food poisoning was reported twice at Zilla Parishad High School in Maganoor of Narayanpet district. On Wednesday (November 27, 2024), Telangana High Court expressed serious concern in the matter of the food poisoning at the ZPHS and directed the State government to furnish a report. Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Thursday morning said that it is prepared to dismiss those found guilty of supplying unhygienic food to students.

In a circular issued on Thursday (November 28, 2024), the Government said the committee would visit and enquire into all food safety incidents reported in any institution, identify the reasons and fix up the responsibility against the persons/agencies responsible for such incidents. The committee had been asked to submit a detailed report to Chief Secretary A. Santhi Kumari at the earliest.

The Government had also decided to constitute institution level food safety committees to oversee cooking and serving food in various institutions to prevent food contamination and food borne illnesses. The committee would consist of head of the respective institution and two other staff members.

It would inspect the storeroom, kitchen before cooking every meal and ensure quality of the provisions and hygiene in the kitchen. The committee members should taste the food after preparation of every meal to check the food quality and then only it should be served to children. The committee should also take photographs of the activities and keep it in record without fail till the nodal officers developed mobile based app that would allow instant uploading of photographs taken in each institution before every meal.

The district collectors on their part had been instructed to ensure that mandal/divisional/district level officers were nominated as supervisory officers for each institution and they should visit the institution before and after cooking as far as possible and taste the food before it was served. The collectors should constitute institution level food safety committees for all institutions in their respective jurisdiction and ensure that food served in all these institutions was safe, hygienic and well nourished.