"I always eat the food first and then serve it to the children. Today, the food was so bad that I refused to serve it to the kids," said Sunita Sharma, school in-charge, Government Primary School.
This was not the first time when students were served uncooked and stale food. According to teachers, several complaints have been lodged in the past on the same issue. "Despite bringing it to the notice of the concerned agency, there has been no difference. Many children come to school just for the food. These are children of rickshaw-pullers, labourers and maids," said Vinod, a teacher.
Accepting the claim, Sharma told TOI, "Around two months ago, insects were found in the food served at the school. It was not served to the children, as teachers had inspected the food first."
A complaint has been lodged with a senior manager at ISKCON, the voluntary organization that supplies the food. "We accept the curry was not thick. But we always ensure that high quality certified ingredients are used to prepare the food. We will, make sure this is not repeated," said Dhananjay Krishna of ISKCON Food Relief Foundation (Haryana).
The voluntary organization supplies mid-day meals to over 600 government schools in the district, with due permission from the government.