Residential School students plead: CM Sir Please Help Us

Hyderabad: There appears to be no end to the instances of food poisoning in Minorities Residential Schools. Many cases have been reported in the past couple of months and still complaints of low-quality food being served to students continues to pour in.

Parents associations and student activists are upset that the education department and the state government were not reacting and were not taking proper action like taking up regular monitoring of the quality of food and ensuring that the prescribed menu was strictly followed. They allege that there is no mechanism to ensure hygienic food to the students. No action is taken against the suppliers despite several complaints giving rise to doubts of connivance and corruption at different levels of administration.

Talking to Hans India the parents and students association said that following reports highlighted in Hans India, the officials assured to take necessary action but nothing happened.

Parents and students' activists say that the government schools should immediately constitute committees to inspect the quality of food, cleanliness of the premises where food is served and cooked. In many cases even the utensils that are used for cooking were found to be unclean, they rue.

Asif Hussain Sohail, president of Telangana Parents Association for Child rights and safety said, "The government makes tall claims that it was providing nutritious food to children but in reality only rice which too is not of good quality and watery dal is being supplied. Though there is a chart which prescribes the menu, it is not followed."

Children are not getting enough nutritive value. Though as per the chart on Monday and Thursday students should be served rice, egg and Sambar, Tuesday and Friday vegetable curry and on other days dal and leafy vegetables, it was never followed.

Many students complain that contrary to the claims, quality of rice served is very bad and is unclean with pebbles in it. They urged the government to take immediate action and provide hygienic and quality food.