Sau/cafeteria - St Aloysius (Deemed To Be University)

College Cafeteria

Mangaluru: Are you satisfied with food served in college canteens? Certainly not, the low quality of food along with pathetic hygiene standards in college canteens is a threat to a healthy learning environment for both students and college staff. The canteens in colleges are usually outsourced to a third party, who hardly bothers to follow the prescribed guidelines of the food and drug administration and lack of regular inspections also undermines the prospect of better management and hygiene standard of college canteens. Stringent universal guidelines for maintenance of quality food and hygiene standards, especially proposed for all the college canteens, is the need of the hour. Further, the colleges must ensure regular inspection so that the outsourced vendor is compelled to maintain the prescribed standards. The kitchens in most college canteens are unhygienic and the waiters are never wearing clean clothes. Even the way they serve food is not proper and they don’t seem to wash their hands when serving. Food is substandard and of poor quality because the rates charged are very low. Hygiene and space available are two factors that need to be improved at the canteens.

Some items are good while the others can be improved on. There is a chance that prices can be made more student friendly. In order to avoid all the above negative standards and non-hygienic methods, and to provide the most hygienic food and beverages at a reasonable price, St Aloysius College (Autonomous) , Mangaluru has outsourced their CANTEEN to a leading caterers who have been managing canteens in colleges and universities in various parts of the Country, including Dakshina Kannada/Mangaluru- and it was a joyous and happiest moment for the management, staff and students of this prestigious college today to have IDEAL CATERERS, all set to provide the most hygienic standard of food, prepared under hygienic conditions- and above all TASTY and served at a VERY REASONABLE PRICE, affordable to the staff and students.

The inaugural ceremony of the New Canteen was graced by the Chief Guest Prof Udayakumar R Yaragatti-Director, NIK, Surathkal, joined by Rector of St Aloysius Institutions, Mangaluru Fr Melwin Pinto SJ; Principal of St Aloysius College Rev Dr Praveen Martis SJ; Registrar of College Dr Alwyn D’sa; Finance Officer of College Fr Vincent Pinto SJ; Secretary and Treasurer of Mangalore Jesuit Education Society Fr Joseph Cyril D’Mello; Proprietor of Ideal Caterers Mohandas Shetty; General Manager Kiran Shetty; and Operation Manager Mahesh Hegde. Following an invocation to seek God’s blessing with a prayer song by the College choir, the Rector after a short prayer, went around the Canteen and blessed it with Holy water. The welcome address was delivered by Rev Dr Praveen Martis SJ, where he said it was a good move done by the College to provide the most hygienic food and beverages at affordable prices, and we are confident that the students will surely love this new canteen and patronize it when they are hungry and thirsty. Chief guest Prof Udayakumar Yaragatti said, “In this modern world youngsters need healthy and tasty food to keep them nourished and healthy. Gone are the days when we were provided with the basic homemade food cooked by our parents and grandparents. Now the present generation of students are looking for healthy food and beverages at prices they could afford. A good college canteen is one that caters to the broadest possible clientele. In an establishment where the values of tolerance and an awareness of difference should be encouraged, even a simple canteen and the options on its menu can show how such values operate in the real world, beyond the rhetoric of the classroom. The old adage “A healthy body goes hand-in-hand with a healthy mind” is certainly true, and I believe the college can play a role in providing healthy food options for the benefit of its students and staff. And this canteen managed by Ideal Caterers will surely serve the purpose, since they have been doing a good job at our Canteen at NITK. With all these food options and responsibilities to consider, canteens must be better organised and more efficient than they have been in the past. Diversity, tolerance, and community spirit are the order of the day in any good College canteen”.

Rector Fr Melwin Pinto SJ speaking on the occasion said, “Few weeks ago, I wanted to try some snacks at the earliere canteen managed by someone else, and not happy with the food selection and the ambience, I returned without patronizing it. Later I discussed with the College principal that we should upgrade the canteen and look for a better caterer to run it- and we were lucky to be introduced to Ideal Caterers and without making any further choices, we opted for Ideal Caterers to run the Canteen at our campus. With all the experience the new canteen management has, we are confident that they will provide good food and good service, and satisfy our hungry and thirsty students, after classes and in between”. The vote of thanks was proposed by Ms Shilpa D’Souza-Dean of Public Relations, and the programme was meticulously compered by Naveen Dalmeida- lecturer of English at SAC. General Manager of Ideal Caterers Kiran Shetty speaking to Team Mangalorean said, “Having started our college canteen business at NITK -Surathkal in 2006, we have come a long way in doing our catering services at many colleges/institutions around India, including DK. Our kitchens are equipped with the latest machinery and we maintain standard and hygienic conditions to satisfy our clients when we prepare and serve our food. At St Aloysius College Canteen we have nearly 30 staff, and our business hours are from 7:30 am till 6:00 pm. We have kept lunch meals at Rs 35 (Veg) and Rs 50 (Non-Veg/Chicken) and Chicken biryani at Rs 60 and Veg biryani at Rs 50. Rest of the items on our menu are priced reasonably so that students can afford it”.