T’gana: Panel cites low payment for ‘poor’ mid-day meal

Hyderabad The Telangana government, which has substantially enhanced the mess charges being paid to students of residential schools and welfare hostels by 40% since November 1 resulting in improved diet for them, has started taking measures to improve the quality of food being provided to students under the mid-day meal scheme in the state-run schools across the state, officials familiar with the matter said. Following a series of food poisoning incidents in various government schools in the state, the Telangana education commission headed by retired IAS officer Akunuri Murali made an extensive study of the conditions prevailing in the schools in the implementation of the mid-day meals scheme. Apart from the Telangana education commission, the state government also constituted a task force committee on November 28 for ensuring food safety and developing an institutional mechanism to provide quality food to students during the mid-day meal scheme in the day schools and in the residential school and hostel messes. On December 5, the state high court bench comprising chief justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Srinivas Rao, which heard a public interest litigation on the recent incidents of food poisoning in government schools has ordered the state government to submit the reports of the special task force committee within four weeks.