THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : In the wake of a number of children falling ill after consuming noon meal in schools, the government has decided to conduct quality checks in institutions across the state. A decision in this regard was taken at a high-level meeting, jointly chaired by General Education Minister V Sivankutty and Food and Civil Supplies Minister G R Anil, with senior officials of various departments here on Sunday.
“Officials from the departments of general education, health, food safety and civil supplies will conduct joint inspections in schools,” said Sivankutty. Along with officials, ministers and other elected representatives will also visit schools and have noon meal with children to give out a message that the mid-day meals served in schools are safe. While Sivankutty will visit a school in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, Anil will visit an institution in Kozhikode to ensure that noon meal is being prepared in a hygienic manner.
Noon feeding supervisors at the district and sub-district levels will visit schools from Monday. They will check the kitchen, water tank and toilets, and utensils used for cooking. Over the next one week, officials from the Kerala Water Authority, in association with other departments, will conduct checks on the drinking water provided to schools.
At least 53 students from two schools in Kayamkulam (Alappuzha) and Uchakkada (Thiruvananthapuram) and an anganwadi at Kalluvathukkal (Kollam) sought treatment for suspected food poisoning on Friday and Saturday.
Meanwhile, the ministers said, as some children who did not consume mid-day meal too fell ill, contaminated food alone cannot be cited as the reason. The results of the tests on food samples collected from the schools will be out only after five days, Sivankutty said.
The meeting also decided to observe Fridays as vector control day to curb mosquitoes in schools. Students and staff involved in the preparation of noon meal will be given awareness sessions on hygiene, the minister said.
Meanwhile, norovirus has been detected in two students of LMLP School at Uchakkada in Thiruvananthapuram. They reportedly fell ill after consuming noon meal from the school. Novovirus is a contagious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhoea.