A Kolkata mid-day meal supplied to a government-aided school allegedly contained insects, while another school has reported declining food quality and shortages in portions supplied to students. The complaints have raised concerns about food safety and monitoring after an organisation associated with ISKCON began supplying meals to schools across the city.
The insect was reportedly found in the potato-and-bori curry served at the primary section of CPC Rymount Road Institution in the Mominpur area. The day’s menu included rice and the curry. School authorities said serving staff noticed the insect in one of the boris, photographed it and immediately informed the headmistress.
According to the school authorities, the curry was kept aside and the boris were checked before the meal was served. The headmistress said the school had removed the affected items and then served the curry after selecting the remaining boris. Schools are required to provide regular feedback on the quality of their mid-day meals, and the institution said it had submitted its observations.
The meals at the school have been supplied by an organisation associated with ISKCON since 1 August. The Alipore kitchen, which began operations for this supply network on that date, serves the Mominpur school. The report said the kitchen was inaugurated by Chief Minister Shuvendu Adhikari and that officials had previously highlighted its modern facilities and cleanliness through photographs and videos.
The Alipore kitchen and another facility in Bagbazar are involved in supplying mid-day meals to about 500 schools in Kolkata, according to the report. The Bagbazar facility had already been supplying meals to schools, while the Alipore unit was added to the network from 1 August. The reported incident has therefore brought attention to the inspection and quality-control processes operating between a central kitchen and individual schools.
A second complaint came from Garden Reach Nutubihari Das Girls’ High School, another government-aided institution. Its headmistress said the quality of the meals had declined somewhat from the level seen when the supply began on 1 August. She also alleged that quantities were short on some days, with fewer meals arriving in a container than expected.
The school reportedly had to provide cake and biscuits to some students after meals ran short for two consecutive days. The headmistress said the complaints had been communicated to the appropriate authorities. The allegations concern both the nutritional quality of the meals and the accuracy of the quantities delivered to schools.
Complaints about insects and poor-quality food in school meals have been reported in the past, including during periods when community kitchens supplied meals or food was prepared within schools. The current allegation is the first reported complaint involving the ISKCON-associated supply arrangement, which is also being extended to districts in West Bengal.
ISKCON’s public relations director, Ananta Bhagavan, said the organisation would quickly examine the matter and respond. The reported complaints now place the focus on the next inspection findings and on whether the city’s meal-supply system records corrective action at the kitchen and school levels.
