Any cook worth his salt knows that preparing food includes a multitude of steps. There’s a lot that needs to be done before even mise en place starts. Like washing our hands, utensils, ingredients like vegetables and the counter-top where the food will be cooked. A clean and hygienic environment is of utmost importance because otherwise, the prepared meal will do more harm than good.
But unfortunately, an incident has come to light where an Anganwadi in Karera region of Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri district is using the toilet on the premises for the preparation of mid-day meals.
According to News18, a staff member named Rajkumari Yogi revealed that the meals cooked there are served to children regularly. She further added that they had to resort to this extreme step due to space constraints and the lack of help from the higher authorities where the issue has been raised repeatedly but to no avail.
Priyanka Bunkar, Project Officer of Women and Child Development Department denied these claims saying that the space is being used as a kitchen due to its water supply point and that the toilet isn’t even fully constructed there.
A toilet is no place to cook food, especially one that is meant to fulfil the nutritive requirements of young children. Thus, we sincerely hope that the Anganwadi is given monetary assistance and allotted additional space for the construction of a proper kitchen.