Lok Sabha Question No. 3858 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-16
Subject: Food Poisoning in Residential Schools in Nagarkurnool
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Dr. Mallu Ravi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO - 3858

## ANSWERED ON 16/03/2026

## Food Poisoning in Residential Schools in Nagarkurnool

3858. Dr. Mallu Ravi:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has investigated recent food poisoning and skin infection incidents in social welfare residential schools at Nagarkurnool in Telangana, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the number of affected children and remedial measures implemented; and
- (c)  whether sanitation, hygiene audits and safe food protocols are monitored at the Central level, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a) to (c): Pradhan  Mantri  Poshan  Shakti  Nirman  (PM  POSHAN)  Scheme  is implemented  in  partnership  with  States/  UTs  for  providing  one  hot  cooked  and nutritious meal to children studying in Balvatika (just before class I) and the classes I to VIII of Government and Government-aided schools on all school working days. The overall  responsibility  for  smooth  functioning  of  the  scheme  including  providing  hot cooked and nutritious meal to the eligible children and day-to-day administration lies with the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations.

Government  of  India  has  issued  detailed  guidelines  on  quality,  safety  and hygiene to ensure serving of good quality nutritious meal under the Scheme.  All the States/ UTs are advised to adhere to these Guidelines. These guidelines are available on  official  website  https://pmposhan.education.gov.in.  These  guidelines,  inter  alia, provide  instructions  to  schools  to  procure  Agmark  quality  and  branded  items  for preparation of meals, training to Cook-cum-Helpers, tasting of meals by members of

School Management Committee including at least one teacher before serving the hot meal to children. Further, it provides for testing of food samples by Government Food Research Laboratory or any laboratory accredited or recognized by law to ensure that the meals meet nutritional standards and quality. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is  given  responsibility  for  making  available  food  grains  of  best  available  quality, meeting the parameters of Fair Average Quality (FAQ). The Guidelines provide, interalia,  for  training  of  Cook-cum-Helpers  on  nutrition,  cooking  processes,  health  and hygiene, preparation of raw grains and vegetables, recipes, serving skills etc. States/ UTs provide training to CCHs in collaboration with Institutes of Hotel Management, Food Craft Institutes, FSSAI, State Universities etc. Many States/ UTs conduct the Cooking Competitions and also give cash prizes to the winners to encourage them to cook varied and nutritious meals. The States and UTs are encouraged to decide menu suitable to the local conditions within the prescribed nutrition and food norms and to procure  locally  grown  food  items  like  millets,  vegetables,  condiments  etc.  The guidelines also envisage for all children in the school to wash their hands with soap.

As informed by the State Government of Telangana, no such incident happened in  Telangana  Government  Social  Welfare  Residential  (TGSWR)  Institutions  in Nagarkurnool District of Telangana. Further, School Education Department of State Government  of  Telangana  has  issued  Standard  Operating  Procedures  (SOP)  for cooking and serving food in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) and Girls hostels, which are under their administrative control.

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