A fortnight after 32 students of Bal Vikas Vidya Mandir, Jogeshwari, suffered from food poisoning after consuming the mid-day meal, the school has replaced its caterer with ISKCON.
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On Monday, the principal and other school authorities approved the food after a tasting session, paving the way for the mid-day meal scheme to resume in the school.
Radhakrishna Das, administrator of Annamrita, a project run by ISKCON to provide mid-day meals, said, “We read about the tragic accident. The school approached us a week later. We will be glad to provide our services to them.”
Sahdev Sawant, vice-chairman of the school’s management board, said they approached ISKCON based on a suggestion of one of the teachers and the good reputation of the organisation. They acquired parents’ consent for the proposal at the second parent-teacher meeting, held four days after the food-poisoning incident. “At the first meeting, we had planned on not serving meals at all as initially, parents were scared. But we have to abide by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s norms, which say that all civic schools should provide meals,” he said.
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Sunil Parthi, head of the Mira Road kitchen of Annamrita, said an ISKCON team visited the school, explained the organisation’s procedure. The principal, teachers and trustees visited the kitchen, and decided to draw up an agreement, Mr. Parthi said.
Annamrita has kitchens in Tardeo and Mira Road. The Tardeo kitchen provides mid-day meal to over 450 schools in the southern part of the city, and the Mira Road kitchen provides meals to more than 150 schools between Dadar and the northern areas.
According to the school management, the agreement will be signed in next the 10 days, and the service will be commissioned before the end of next month. Till then, students have been allowed to carry food from home.