SW kitchen dishes out perfect meal for students under new diet card

Hyderabad:The kitchen at the Social Welfare Residential School in Mahendra Hills, Secunderabad, was busy on Saturday as cooks prepared the day's meals under the new guidelines and new menu.

Among the students, Class IX’s Divyatejini seemed particularly excited about the updated menu. “I am looking forward to the bondas; that would be my favourite addition,” she said.

The government has introduced a ‘New Common Diet Menu’ along with a 40 per cent hike in diet charges and 200 per cent hike in the cosmetic charges. Both the changes, along with an extensive standard operating procedure (SOP) for cooking and serving in all residential schools will be a welcome change for students.

The new menu serves both a variety of meals and offers nutritional value in residential schools. Principal Seelam Sunitha explained that the additional funding has made it possible to serve more substantial portions.

“Earlier, each student got 90 grams of chicken. Now, we can serve up to 120 grams,” she shared. The revised menu also includes millet biscuits, coriander chutney, and ginger tea among other things.

“Ginger tea served on Wednesdays will aid digestion,” said the Principal. “The new options and variety make meals a lot more exciting,” a student added.

These changes and food safety measures come following reports of food poisoning in districts such as Narayanpet and Karimnagar.

The SOP that has been rolled out, regulates every step of meal preparation, from receiving supplies to cleaning utensils, storage, cooking, serving, and even waste disposal. Among its many guidelines, it mandates that vegetables must not touch the ground during preparation and that leftover food cannot be reused in subsequent meals.

“We rarely have leftovers because we calculate quantities carefully,” Principal Sunitha explained. “If there’s any surplus, we donate it to a nearby orphanage.”

Daily, weekly, and monthly cleaning schedules for kitchens have been made mandatory. Principal Sunitha explained, “District officials have been conducting inspections almost every day over the past month, checking food quality and cooking processes.”

The SOP also introduces detailed rules to ensure hygiene. Vegetables must be cut on clean surfaces rather than the ground, and cooked food must be stored safely for up to 12 hours in case inspections are needed.

‘Pachi pulusu’, a traditional dish that doesn’t require cooking or boiling has been excluded from the menu strictly. According to the guidelines, all food served must be cooked thoroughly to avoid contamination.

The SOP also requires kitchens to be pest-free and water storage systems to be cleaned regularly. School principals are now directly responsible for enforcing these procedures.

“We’ve never had such an issue here. I think these problems arise when there are lapses in operations elsewhere,” Principal Sunitha said.

At her school, records of expiry dates, freshness, and quantities are maintained manually and meticulously to ensure nothing is overlooked. “We have a mess committee and WhatsApp group, the committee shares all photos of the daily operation and I am constantly updated. I also go and taste the food myself,” the Principal added.

On Saturday, Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy and MLA Sriganesh visited the residential school in Secunderabad and shared a meal with the students. “They appreciated the cleanliness and the quality of the food,” Sunitha said.

B. Saidulu, secretary of the Mahatma Jyothiba Phule Telangana Backward Classes Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society, remarked that the additional 40 per cent funding for the programme is being used to ensure nutritional consistency across all residential schools.