Bihar horror prompts UP to serve special guidelines

The scheme caters to about 1.5 crore children in UP,studying in about 1.60 lakh primary and upper primary schools. The guidelines direct officials to ensure clean utensils are used for cooking,utensils are covered during as well as after cooking,check utensils brought by children to eat food in school,ensure that cooks clean their hands before cooking,and children,too,wash hands before eating. It has also been directed to ensure that cooked food is tasted first by an adult,preferably a teacher or a parent,before it is served to students. A senior government officer said,“The provision to taste the food by an adult existed earlier; it is now being reinforced. We are also adding a clause,asking teacher or a parent to wait for some time after tasting the food,before serving it to students.”

There is also an instruction to not purchase open spices or oil. In case of spices,only those with Agmark certification have been ordered to be purchased,which should be stored in air-tight containers. Also,iodised salt have to be used that have to be kept in air-tight containers.

As there are about 270 big and small NGOs engaged in providing midday meals to government schools in 35 districts,an order to form a “centralised kitchen” has been sent out. The kitchen will be inspected by food inspectors from time to time. Each school has also been asked to keep a sample of the cooked food till the school closes every day.