E-Paper
DU's Hindu College students spot dead lizard in canteen food
Students of Hindu College at Delhi University's North Campus have been complaining against the quality and hygiene standards of food served at the canteen.
Warning: If you have a phobia of lizards, don’t read further! Recently, a student group shared how some students spotted lizard in a plate of fried rice ordered at Hindu College canteen by a lab assistant. The incident occurred on Tuesday, and is unfortunately not the first one as students share how a dead cockroach was found, also in fried rice, about six months ago.
A few students from second-year BSc (Hons) Physics were present at the scene when the dead creature was found in the lab assistant’s food. Karthik P, one among these student, shares, “Thankfully, sir (lab assistant) spotted it before consuming it. It’s highly dangerous to let something like this happen! And this is not an isolated incident since barely months ago I found a cockroach in my food bought from the old canteen. We were told this carelessness will not repeat, and now this.... That’s why I’ve decided to speak up now.”
“It’s all over Instagram that lizard got entry into Hindu College, yet students can’t. This meme made on a rather serious situation is in fact true since we need to highlight what are the facilities of the canteen provided to us,” says Deepesh Aggarwal, a final-year student of BA (Hons) Economics at Hindu. Aggarwal adds, “After this incident, my parents have asked me to completely stop going to the canteen since basic hygiene is an absolute must when it comes to food... The student body had complained to the college committee last year verbally, but this time we intend to submit a written letter demanding an explanation about the incident.”
Confirming that several students approached him regarding the incident, Abhay Pratap Singh, a final-year student of BA (Prog) and the student in charge of canteen food until last year, tells us, “This is the first incident of its kind in the college that has been reported to me. Due to the long weekend and the DUTA elections, we were unable to meet the students in college. But we will be meeting with the canteen committee soon, to raise the issue about hygiene... The new canteen committee is yet to be formed, and at my end, we have been keeping a check on the food quality and hygiene standards and raised concerns whenever required in the past.”
When we approached the college authorities, the principal didn't respond to our several requests. Later, vice principal Reena Jain told us, “This is the first time such an incident has been reported in the several years of the existence of our college. It has been informed that the incident has taken place outside the cafeteria. The college administration has taken serious note of it and taken immediate action. While the contractor was summoned immediately, in the distribution chain of eatables, we have been able to establish the accountability of the person and have removed him [from the assigned responsibility]. It will not be out of place to mention that our canteen has been very recently revamped and we take all measures to keep it at the highest standards of hygiene and sanitation.”
