Telangana Establishes Task Force to Address Food Safety Issues in Educational and Welfare Institutions
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Hyderabad, Nov 28 (NationPress) Concerned about a series of food contamination cases in government-operated schools, welfare hostels, and hospitals in Telangana, the state government took action on Thursday by forming a Task Force dedicated to ensuring food safety across all these institutions.
The three-member Task Force for each institution will include the Commissioner of Food Safety or a food safety officer, the head of the relevant department, and a district-level officer.
Task Force committees will be established for every school, welfare hostel, residential school, Anganwadi center, and hospital to promote food safety and create an effective institutional framework.
Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari issued a directive regarding this on Thursday.
According to the order, the Task Force committee will investigate all reported food safety incidents in any institution, determine the causes, and hold accountable those responsible for such occurrences.
The Chief Secretary has instructed all Task Force committees to promptly submit comprehensive reports.
The Scheduled Caste Development Department also issued a separate directive to form an institution-level food safety committee to monitor food preparation and serving practices, aiming to reduce food contamination and food-borne illnesses.
Each committee will include the head of the institution and two other staff members.
As stated in the order, the committee will assess the storeroom and kitchen prior to meal preparation to ensure the quality of provisions and hygiene. Committee members are required to taste the food after it is prepared to confirm its quality before serving it to the children.
The committee is also tasked with documenting their daily activities through photographs until a mobile application is developed by the Nodal Department for real-time uploads of these images before each meal.
These directives were issued following a reprimand from Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy regarding recent food poisoning incidents at government-run residential schools and hostels.
He cautioned that negligent officials would face termination from their positions.
In response to criticism from the Telangana High Court, the Chief Minister urged district Collectors to take action against negligent officials.
He instructed the Collectors to treat students in government schools as if they were their own children, ensuring they receive quality meals, and emphasized that there should be no room for negligence.
