Staff Reporter

Ponda

Students from the Ponda Education Society (PES) in Farmagudi, along with the student council and ABVP, forced the college management to shut down the college canteen on Wednesday after they discovered maggot-infested food being served.

Canteen operations have been suspended from Thursday until a new agency can be found to run the facility.

For several months, students have reported incidents of maggot-infested food being served at the canteen. In December 2024, the student council submitted a letter to the principal, demanding action against the canteen operator. The letter, signed by around 300 students, stated that unhygienic food was being served at the canteen, but no action was taken by the college administration at that time.

This week, a similar incident prompted students to take matters into their own hands. With support from the ABVP, they staged a protest on the college premises, demanding immediate closure of the canteen.

Rajas Jaywant, Organizing Secretary of ABVP-Goa, said that the canteen operator had been running the business for the past four years without an FDA license.

The canteen served food to around 2,000 people, including students and faculty from various PES campus colleges such as Pharmacy, B.Ed, and Higher Secondary.

Jaywant said, “The canteen has been operating in a completely unhygienic manner, with maggot-infested food being found on several occasions. Despite multiple complaints, the management failed to act, forcing us to protest.”

Following the protest, the management agreed to shut down the canteen until a new operator is found. Students have demanded that the new operator obtain an FDA license to ensure that proper hygiene standards are maintained.