Over 1.17 lakh midday meal cooks and helpers, who serve food to 61.4 lakh children in government and aided schools in the State, have a rather unexpected advisory from the Centre: do not wear nail polish or artificial nails. While at work, they have to ensure that they do not wear watches, rings, jewellery and bangles.
The guidelines to be implemented from the next academic year also states that they should avoid certain “hand habits”, such as scratching their nose, running fingers through their hair, rubbing eyes, ears and mouth, or “scratching beard or any other part of the body that is potentially hazardous when associated with handling food products, and might lead to food contamination through the transfer of bacteria from the employee to product during its preparation”. They have also been prohibited from blowing nose, spitting, smoking and chewing food on the kitchen premises. The cooks will have to “neatly” tie and cover their hair at work.
These are part of the guidelines on food safety and hygiene for school kitchens under the midday meal programme for cooks and helpers that have been formed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. As per earlier State guidelines midday meal workers will have to undergo a medical examination once a year.
Amused by guidelines
Lakshmi Devi, a midday meal worker in a government school in Koppal, is rather amused by the guidelines about artificial nails.
“We do not have money to wear such fancy things,” says Ms. Devi, who earns Rs. 1,600 a month. “Let the government focus on increasing the budget allocation and procuring good quality vegetables and grains.”
State president of the Karnataka Rajya Akshara Dasoha Naukarara Sangha S. Varalakshmi concurs. “They should improve quality of infrastructure and utensils which are very old,” she says.
The guidelines have been framed following the Bihar midday meal tragedy in July 2013 where 23 children died. As many as 360 children of the Urdu Higher Primary School at D.J. Halli in Bengaluru were hospitalised owing to food poisoning in September 2014.
Midday meal workers, helpers are to follow an advisory on food safety and hygiene for school kitchens
