Daltonganj: Palamu district food safety team on Thursday carried out an inspection of food items at the mess of Govt Engineering College (GEC) in Basoura and obtained samples for quality testing after students launched protests over alleged poor quality of meals being served to them.Alleging that the food being served to them contains flies, insects and pebbles, the students living in the hostels demanded that the mess operator be removed.Principal S K Singh said over 200 girls, staying in the hostels, started raising slogans against the mess operator in the evening and the boys soon joined them. “The students complained about pebbles in rice, insects in cooked vegetables and unhygienic conditions in and around the dining area,” Singh said.“Food being served to us is unfit for consumption. Complaints have gone unheard for a long time,” a student said, requesting anonymity.Palamu deputy commissioner Dilip Pratap Singh Shekhawat directed Sadar sub-divisional officer Sanjay Pandey and food safety officer Law Kumar Gupta to visit the campus.During the inspection, Gupta found several violations. “The food-serving area was unhygienic, filled with dirt and waste lying all around. The mess did not have a pest-control certificate, water quality test report or health certificates of food handlers,” he said.Food samples, including rice, pulses and chilli powder, were collected and sent to a laboratory in Ranchi for testing. Authorities also found inadequate drainage and poor storage conditions that could expose food items to pests.The mess operator, Amit Bansal, has been served a show-cause notice. Singh said, “Hostel superintendents have been directed to closely monitor the mess and ensure quality food is served to students.”
