Adi Dravidar hostels to get centralised kitchens
Stating that a food service provider will be appointed shortly who would be responsible for cooking and transporting the food packages to the specified hostel premises
Representative Image
CHENNAI: Soon, a centralised kitchen will serve uniform, nutritious food to students of all Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare hostels across Chennai. The scheme, a first in the State, will see over 70 varieties of dishes being served for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and will be extended to other districts as well.
The State government’s new move comes against the backdrop of complaints of non-compliance to the government’s prescribed format and standard in serving food to the students with the quality varying from hostel to hostel.
A senior official from the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare department told DT Next that the objective of the centralised kitchen scheme is to provide regular hygienic and quality food to the students especially those staying in the Adidravidar and Tribal Welfare hostels.
Stating that a food service provider will be appointed shortly who would be responsible for cooking and transporting the food packages to the specified hostel premises, the official said:
“The centralised kitchen, which would be established in two locations in Chennai, will function as per the guidelines of the food safety department”.
Pointing out that more than 3,000 students, staying in over 20 hostels, will benefit from the common kitchen, he said: “More than 70 food varieties have been identified and would be served for the students in a week”.
The official said non-vegetarian food will be served for the students on Wednesdays with either mutton or chicken and throughout the week the students will get buttermilk for their lunch.
“The food service provider will ensure that the breakfast is despatched from the kitchen by 5.30 am, lunch by 10.45 am and dinner by 5.30 pm,” he said adding, “A monitoring committee, comprising food safety department officials, will be constituted to check the food supply system and hygienic atmosphere in the kitchen”.
Claiming that the authorities will also ensure that food would be continuously supplied without any interruption even during extraordinary situations like natural calamities, he said:
“Similarly, they would also ensure that the kitchen will have a 24-hour continuous electricity supply, water and other basic amenities even during monsoon.”