Congress blames lack of coordination for food poisoning cases

PANAJI: Frequent instances of food poisoning through mid-day meal schemes in Goa were due to lack of coordination among departments, Congress today charged.

The non-coordination between state education department and food and drugs administration has led to such instances affecting the school students, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee working president Francis Sardinha told reporters here.

Sardinha demanded that both the departments should work in tandem to ensure that children are safe.

Goa had recently witnessed three different cases of food poisoning affecting more than 50 students.

The self help groups, which are given the job to prepare the food, should eat the cooked food themselves and check for poisoning, before serving it to the students, Sardinha said.

The state government should invest money in the scheme, in addition to the allocation by the central government, so that proper meal is provided to children, he demanded.