C'garh govt starts training for mid-day meal cooks

Against the backdrop of the Bihar mid-day meal tragedy, Chhattisgarh Government has started a training programme for the cooks of the mid-day meal scheme and their assistants to educate them about the nutritional value of food and hygiene.
The government has strictly instructed the principals and cooks to taste the mid-day meal before serving it to students.
"Training programmes have been started in almost all districts, while in Dhamtari and Rajnandgaon districts they are about to conclude," an official said here today.
As per the directives of the state government, the training is being held after the school hours and on holidays in all government schools with an aim to provide better quality and more nutritious food to children, the official said.

"Apart from that, principals and cooks have also been instructed to eat the mid-day meal first, before serving it to children," the official said.
A register will have to maintained at every school which will have record that the cooked food is being regularly checked by principal, teacher and cooks.

The register will be presented to monitoring team during inspection of schools.
Besides, the management committees of the school will also be given training in this concern, the official added.
The mid-day meal food is presently cooked by self-help groups.