In a shocking revelation, mid-day meals supplied to two government primary schools in Keri and Savoi-verem in Ponda taluka, Goa, were found to contain worms. These meals, provided by self-help groups (SHGs), raised serious concerns about the safety and quality of food served to schoolchildren. The contaminated food was immediately withdrawn from consumption by school authorities.
The Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights addressed a letter to the director of education, calling for an inquiry into the incident. The Commission demanded accountability and has urged that action be taken against those responsible. They have set a strict deadline of 30 days for the submission of an action-taken report.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also intervened, conducting an inspection of the self-help group’s kitchen and collecting food samples for analysis on Thursday.
However, the head of the self help group told Team Herald that she would stock up on goods to cook up the meals from Belgaum but due to Ganesh and a shortage in the stock she purchased the items from a store in Mardol. After the incident, she continued to prepare and send the meals. However she got a call from the authorities asking her to discontinue cooking the meals.
Parents, furious about the compromised safety of their children’s meals, gathered at the school and demanded accountability from the government and action against the self-help groups responsible for supplying substandard food. Concerned parents emphasised their fears and anxiety for their children’s health and well-being and called for a thorough investigation into the matter.
“My son is in the third grade, if something had to happen to him after consuming the food, who would be responsible for this? Will the parents be held responsible, or the govt? or is it the school that will be held responsible? This is one reason why parents are afraid to send their children to school. I think all schools who receive a mid day meal from this group may have received worm infested food. If anything happens to my son, I will not be quiet,” he said.
He demanded that the government to either ensure the provision of high-quality meals or discontinue the scheme altogether. “Why do you’ll even give children such food, if this is the kind of food that’s given, its better that you’ll don’t give at all. We request the govt to give good quality food to the children. They should at least conduct inspection. This is not the first instance, previously the rice was bad and we kept quiet, but how can we keep quiet if it’s infested with worms,” he added
This incident is not an isolated one; students have previously received poor-quality meals, including undercooked dishes and food containing vegetable waste. The Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) President, Shanti Gawde, disclosed that they had discarded inedible food in the past and raised concerns about the deteriorating food quality. “Previously we’d check the food daily but now we cannot check the food daily. Previously we’d find undercooked food or the top portion of the carrot that is to be thrown out in the pulao. We have previously thrown out food that was inconsumable. We have even asked the teachers to return the food. Being the PTA president I had warned that I won’t sign off on the documents pertaining to the food,” said Gawde.
Parents collectively requested the government to either improve the quality of the mid-day meals or put an end to the scheme, as they expressed a willingness to provide their children with food rather than subject them to subpar meals from the self-help groups.
ADEI, Ponda Amisha Talaulikar, has confirmed that the FDA has initiated a formal process, requiring the self-help group to submit a detailed report. She also mentioned that several schools have reached out regarding this issue. “I already informed my Higher officer the HO immediately imformed the FDA and sent them here after that I gave the FDA a sample and the FDA officials asked them to create a report . I will also submit a report to my Higher officer. Nearly four schools contacted us,” informed Talaulikar
