GOT guts to eat bugs? Ask fed-up students
Not just dal, salads and rice, even insects are a part of the students’ diet
BY: Kanupriya Dasgupta
Do we eat to live or do we live to eat? While it largely depends on what age we are at, another fact that governs this aspect is the place where you have food. If it is at the canteens of the Central University ofGujarat in Gandhinagar , chances are you will eat only as much as is required to keep you alive.
After all, going for a second helping after pulling out a dead fly from the first is an option not many would consider. Students at CUG say they have been struggling with over a year now because of poor quality of food and have even had instances of food poisoning. Acidity has become a common complaint, they say.
Spread over two campuses— sector 29 and sector 30—in Gandhinagar, CUG has two canteens which cater to nearly 900 students, including hostellers. Of these, around 300 eat there regularly. But the quality of food as well as the standard of hygiene leaves a lot to be desired, say students.When Mirror visited the canteen in sector 29, neither did it have a kitchen nor proper arrangements for cooking. Not just this, the place outside the kitchen was filthy.
Raj Kumar, co-convener of students’ council and secretary of canteen committee at CUG, said, “Approximately 40 students reportedly fell ill over the past one year after eating food from the canteen. We have conveyed the situation to the convener and the canteen committee and will try to take action as soon as possible.”
The contract of food at both the canteens has been given to the same contractor. Students claim that the agency neither follows prescribed guidelines nor carries out regular inspection. They say they had submitted a written complaint to the college administration in this regard. When contacted, the authorities said that after students suffered food poisoning last year, the college had cancelled that particular agency’s contract and hired another one. However, students say the food quality remains substandard.
‘No choice but to eat there’
Students say they feel helpless as they have to depend on canteens for food despite its poor quality as they have little choice. The lack of hygiene is also affecting them, they claim. Sumeet Chaudhary, second year student of BA Chinese, alleged that eating canteen food for a long left them unwell.
“The dal served in the canteen is usually mixed with water. They do not even serve nutritious food. We do not want to risk eating there, but we don’t have any option. I have suffered from food poisoning last semester and had to take medicines worth Rs 2,000. We stay away from home and do not have much money on us. The college administration should understand this,” he said.
Not just the dal, even the roti is coarse and hard, the rice is either half cooked or over cooked. Fahim Siddique, second year student of BA German said, “The canteen staff doesn’t even wash hands before serving food, which is anyway substandard and of poor quality. I have suffered food poisoning because of canteen food and frequently suffer from acidity because of the substandard oil.”
Sachin Kumar, student of BA German, said, “Sometimes food is served in plates with soap stains. When you visit the kitchen, you can see boiled potatoes lying uncovered on the floor.” Vijay Mishra, a PhD student in chemical science, said, “The canteen is a messed-up place. There is no quality maintained for several years now. The institute does not take action.”
‘There should be regular inspection’
Raghu Solanki, convenor of the student council and member of the canteen committee said, “The need of the hour is to implement stringent guidelines for maintenance of quality food and hygiene standards, especially proposed by UGC for college canteens. Further the college must ensure regular inspection. We have complained several times to the administration.
They are trying their best to solve this issue. Even after this, if our canteen contractor doesn’t provide good quality and hygienic food, we will take action against them.” Ironically, the dean of student welfare DrSanjay Jha claimed the varsity had not received any complaint regarding food quality in recent times. However he assured that action would be taken if such a complaint was received.
University speaks
The university has reportedly issued three warning letters to the canteen contractor for serving substandard and unhygienic food. Dean of Student Welfare Dr Sanjay Jha said, “Last year we had received complaints of stale food because of which students suffered food poisoning. We immediately cancelled the contract of the food supplier. The new canteen contractor has been operating for eight months now and students complain about unhygienic and poor quality food at times. We have issued warnings to the manager and if they don’t improve we will cancel their contract too.”
He added, “We have a meeting with the canteen committee on a monthly basis to address and solve issues. The taste may not be consistent. But we try to ensure a certain standard by telling the canteen manager whenever we get complaints. As of now I have not received complaints of food poisoning. If we do receive, we will immediately take action.”
Do we eat to live or do we live to eat? While it largely depends on what age we are at, another fact that governs this aspect is the place where you have food. If it is at the canteens of the Central University of
After all, going for a second helping after pulling out a dead fly from the first is an option not many would consider. Students at CUG say they have been struggling with over a year now because of poor quality of food and have even had instances of food poisoning. Acidity has become a common complaint, they say.
Spread over two campuses— sector 29 and sector 30—in Gandhinagar, CUG has two canteens which cater to nearly 900 students, including hostellers. Of these, around 300 eat there regularly. But the quality of food as well as the standard of hygiene leaves a lot to be desired, say students.When Mirror visited the canteen in sector 29, neither did it have a kitchen nor proper arrangements for cooking. Not just this, the place outside the kitchen was filthy.
Raj Kumar, co-convener of students’ council and secretary of canteen committee at CUG, said, “Approximately 40 students reportedly fell ill over the past one year after eating food from the canteen. We have conveyed the situation to the convener and the canteen committee and will try to take action as soon as possible.”
The contract of food at both the canteens has been given to the same contractor. Students claim that the agency neither follows prescribed guidelines nor carries out regular inspection. They say they had submitted a written complaint to the college administration in this regard. When contacted, the authorities said that after students suffered food poisoning last year, the college had cancelled that particular agency’s contract and hired another one. However, students say the food quality remains substandard.
‘No choice but to eat there’
Students say they feel helpless as they have to depend on canteens for food despite its poor quality as they have little choice. The lack of hygiene is also affecting them, they claim. Sumeet Chaudhary, second year student of BA Chinese, alleged that eating canteen food for a long left them unwell.
“The dal served in the canteen is usually mixed with water. They do not even serve nutritious food. We do not want to risk eating there, but we don’t have any option. I have suffered from food poisoning last semester and had to take medicines worth Rs 2,000. We stay away from home and do not have much money on us. The college administration should understand this,” he said.
Not just the dal, even the roti is coarse and hard, the rice is either half cooked or over cooked. Fahim Siddique, second year student of BA German said, “The canteen staff doesn’t even wash hands before serving food, which is anyway substandard and of poor quality. I have suffered food poisoning because of canteen food and frequently suffer from acidity because of the substandard oil.”
Sachin Kumar, student of BA German, said, “Sometimes food is served in plates with soap stains. When you visit the kitchen, you can see boiled potatoes lying uncovered on the floor.” Vijay Mishra, a PhD student in chemical science, said, “The canteen is a messed-up place. There is no quality maintained for several years now. The institute does not take action.”
(L) The dal that was allegedly thickened using starch; (R) a fly in a plate of fried rice (both the photographs were provided by students)
‘There should be regular inspection’
Raghu Solanki, convenor of the student council and member of the canteen committee said, “The need of the hour is to implement stringent guidelines for maintenance of quality food and hygiene standards, especially proposed by UGC for college canteens. Further the college must ensure regular inspection. We have complained several times to the administration.
They are trying their best to solve this issue. Even after this, if our canteen contractor doesn’t provide good quality and hygienic food, we will take action against them.” Ironically, the dean of student welfare Dr
University speaks
The university has reportedly issued three warning letters to the canteen contractor for serving substandard and unhygienic food. Dean of Student Welfare Dr Sanjay Jha said, “Last year we had received complaints of stale food because of which students suffered food poisoning. We immediately cancelled the contract of the food supplier. The new canteen contractor has been operating for eight months now and students complain about unhygienic and poor quality food at times. We have issued warnings to the manager and if they don’t improve we will cancel their contract too.”
He added, “We have a meeting with the canteen committee on a monthly basis to address and solve issues. The taste may not be consistent. But we try to ensure a certain standard by telling the canteen manager whenever we get complaints. As of now I have not received complaints of food poisoning. If we do receive, we will immediately take action.”
Approximately 40 students reportedly fell ill over the past one year after eating food from the canteen. We have conveyed the situation to convener
The dal served in the canteen is usually mixed with water. They do not even serve nutritious food. We do not want to risk eating there, but we don’t have any option
Last year we had received complaints of stale food because of which students suffered food poisoning. We immediately cancelled the contract of the food supplier.
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