NT NETWORK
PANAJI
The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has issued a show cause notice to the Porvorim-based self-help group, Gayatri Mahila Mandal, seeking an immediate reply as to why the FDA license issued to it should not be terminated.
The show cause notice follows the March 22 incident wherein 16 students of the Government Primary and Secondary School, Betim were taken ill after consuming the food supplied by this group, under the mid-day meal scheme of the government.
Coming out with this information, highly placed sources of the Education Dept stated that the FDA has observed the kitchen of the particular self-help group to be unhygienic.
“The FDA has noted 5 to 6 aspects, which have made the kitchen unhygienic,” the sources maintained, informing that a lot of dust and cobwebs were found in the kitchen after its inspection by the FDA, besides the colour of the walls peeling and brooms scattered everywhere, among other things.
It may be recalled that the Education department had found the food supplied to students of Betim-based schools to be sub-standard, and had suspended the supply of the same immediately.
The department had also asked this self-help group to stop supplying food to other two schools in the vicinity including Dattaram K Chopdekar Memorial HS, Porvorim. Speaking further the DOE sources informed that if the FDA terminates its license issued to the Gayatri Mahila Mandal, then the education department will cancel the contract with the self-help group.
The sources also said that an alternate arrangement has been made to supply fresh food under the mid-day meal scheme to the three schools.
Meanwhile, the performance audit of the mid-day meal scheme from the year 2009-10 till the year 2013-14 says that the nutritional value of the mid-day meals served to Goan students under the scheme was less than the required norms with deficiency in calories.
The report also maintains that the government failed to engage reputed institutes and laboratories for carrying out sample checking of cooked meals so as to ensure quality meal to students.