Shillong, Sept 17: Meghalaya Health & Family Welfare Minister, Shri A. L. Hek today inaugurated the one day training programme for Street Food Vendors at Sri Aurobindo Institute of Indian Culture, Shillong. The training programme was organized by the Commissionerate of Food Safety, Meghalaya in collaboration with Nestle India Limited and National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI).
In his inaugural speech, Shri A. L. Hek said that the vendors need to provide not only clean utensils and hygienic food, but the positive attitude and the mindset also need to be incorporated by them in their day to day business.
He hoped that with this reformation in place, street vendors can take their business to greater heights. He also said that every street food vendors needs to undergo a basic training in food safety and hygiene as it is a right of every customer to have access to safe and hygienic food.
Stressing on the popularity of street food around the world, Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya, Health & Family Welfare Department, Shri Pravin Bakshi said that the quality of food served attracts the customers to buy from the vendors and as the State being one of the favourite tourist destinations it comes as a major boost for the vendors to grow their business and serve the best and hygienic food to the tourists.
During the programme, the Health Minister unveiled the Hygienic Kit and also distributed Certificates and Hygienic Kits to Street Food Vendors.
Others present at the inaugural programme includes Joint Commissioner of Food Safety, Meghalaya, Shri S. N. Sangma, Director (Corporate Affairs), Nestle India Limited, Shri Sanjay Khajuria and Head of Street Food Program, NASVI, Smti Sangeeta Singh.
‘Project Serve Safe Food’ was launched in 2016 and contributes to enhancing the livelihoods of street food vendors by providing training on food safety and hygienic awareness. Since its inception, over 14,000 street food vendors have received training across 12 States through this programme.
The project focuses on educating the street food vendors by training them on subjects such as health, hygiene, safe food handling, waste disposal and entrepreneurship. These trainings equip the street food vendors to undertake adequate precautions such as usage of disposable gloves, cart and personal hygiene that prevent the spread of food borne diseases.
Expanding ‘Project Serve Safe Food’ across India, Nestle India Limited in collaboration with the Commissionerate of Food Safety, Meghalaya and National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) launched the initiative in Meghalaya to train 500 street food vendors.
Apart from Shillong, the training will also be conducted at Sohra and Tura during the month of September and November, 2019.
