In the aftermath of the fiasco in a school in Dhamtari district resulting in a number of children being taken ill after consuming Mid day meal, the Chhattisgarh Government on Thursday issued a statement while stating that the cooks and their assistants are now being trained to prepare quality food with an emphasis on maintaining hygiene in kitchens.
The training of cooks and their assistants in Dhamtari and Rajnandgaon districts are nearing completion while the same is underway in other districts, it stated.
Meanwhile, School Education Minister Brijmohan Agrawal issued a circular to all the district collectors while directing that the training of the cooks and their assistants must be conducted after school hours and during holidays.
He said that the training programmes could be organised as per the amenities available locally at the ‘Sankul’ level. The Minister in the circular also directed that the training programme could also be held for the members of management committees of the schools.
Agrawal directed the collectors to ensure that the precautions to be taken by the managers of the Mid day meal scheme be mentioned point by point in clear letters on the walls of schools so that all could read and implement them. He said that a register be maintained in which the Head Teacher or the teachers tasting Mid day meal daily must sign on it compulsorily. The task of tasting food by the Head Teacher and the teachers be carried out turn by turn in schools, Agrawal added.