NEW DELHI: As a part of implementation of Swachhta Action Plan, for the year 2017-18, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India jointly with Nestlé India and NASVI will organize trainings for 500 street food vendors in New Delhi to generate awareness on food quality and safety.
While street food vending is an important source of employment for a large population, a variety of constraints including lack of knowledge and skills in business, limited training opportunities, and restricted mobility have prevented street vendors from improving their skills and capabilities.
Recognising this challenge, The Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India in association with Nestlé India and NASVI launched Project Serve Safe Food in New Delhi today to train street food vendors on health, hygiene, safe food handling, waste disposal and entrepreneurship.
The programme has been rolled out in a phased manner by Nestlé India with the first leg being launched in Goa in November 2016 followed by Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala conducting, training programmes for over 4000 street food vendors.
The training programme was chaired by Parag Gupta, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India. Speaking on the occasion, Gupta said , “It is imperative that street food vendors get proper knowledge of food hygiene practices. There is tremendous scope to uplift the overall quality of street food available, which will help them improve livelihood opportunities and at the same time increase consumer confidence. The endeavor of Nestlé India and NASVI in organizing such events is commendable and hope it benefits more and more people in the days to come.”
Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director, Nestlé India, said, “Quality and safety are the key pillars of Nestlé India and we want to build and share knowledge through collaborative partnerships to help improve food safety in the country. As part of this endeavour, we are working together with NASVI to raise awareness and education on food safety practices and hygiene among street food vendors. Street food vending is a source of livelihood for a significant number of urban poor in the country. Through this training we want to enable street food vendors to enhance livelihood opportunities alongside ensuring safe and hygienic food.”
