Bhubaneswar: The state government, Wednesday, informed the Odisha Legislative Assembly that the state is still grappling with the issue of shortage of school kitchens with the facility of sheds. Data relating to the same was furnished before the House, Wednesday.
The School and Mass Education Minister Sameer Ranjan Das in a written reply before the House said that the state hosts a total of 55,663 schools out of which 46,435 have sheds completed. However, his reply also hinted at the number of school kitchens which are operating without any shed.
The minister told the House that in the state 9,228 which accounts to around 16 per cent of the total schools, are still deprived of sheds. These uncovered kitchens not only pose threat to the storage of food materials but also make it vulnerable to attacks from pests.
The minister also submitted data of some of the reported cases of distribution of sub-standard, unsafe, adulterated food to the schools under the Mid-Day Meal scheme. The minister cited data from 2016, 2017 and 2018 when such cases were brought to light. He also talked about the steps taken by the government in such cases.
The minister cited 17 such cases on food quality testing issues and the ‘action taken reports’ on these cases which were reported from different districts across the state. In these 17 cases, food served were tested and found to be either unsafe not branded.
The minister informed the House that in many such cases the headmasters of the schools were suspended, in many other cases, Collectors were informed from such districts and asked for an explanation, salaries of concerned staff were also withheld in some cases.
As per the Food Safety and Standards Act, the Food Safety Commissioner— based on the inspections of food inspectors, lab tests and recommendations of the Designated Officer— can initiate prosecution of the adulterators and people responsible for not abiding by the norms of the act in terms of food safety.