Delhi govt to collect 20,000 midday meal samples annually

The Delhi government has set a target of collecting around 20,000 midday meal samples from the city's kitchens every year, days after nine students were taken ill after consuming food which allegedly had a dead rat in it, a senior official said today.
Government has also decided to engage private laboratories to carry out the examination of the food samples, the official said.
Presently, there are 33 midday meal kitchens in the city, but only around 2,500 samples are picked up by concerned officials every year.
Earlier in the day, Health Minister Satyendar Jain inspected three midday meal kitchens in North Delhi's Burari and Jagat Pur areas.

Nine students of a government school in Deoli fell ill on Thursday after consuming midday meal which allegedly had a dead rat in it, prompting the government to direct designated officers to visit all midday meal kitchens to check hygiene levels.
Yesterday, 27 samples were picked up from kitchens.