Food Funda: Sarkari canteen managers, halwai, cooks etc. to get special hotel management skills

North Block canteen before Union Budget in July 2014

IN A new initiative of the Government of India, the staff and officials working in various sarkari canteens including those in the rank of general managers, deputy general managers, managers, manager-cum-accountants, halwai-cum-cooks etc. will be imparted special training by the Institute of Hotel Management, in an apparent attempt to improve the quality of the canteens spreading across Central government ministries. The DoPT in an office memorandum dated July 10 asked...
ministries and departments of the Central government to nominate the names of select staff working in non-statutory departmental canteens for this training programme which the office memorandum states is "mandatory" in nature. The duration of the training period will be six days. And the TA/DAs for the employees will be borne by the respective ministry or the department.
The programme has been undertaken in consultation with the ministry of tourism, and the training would be imparted by the Institute of Hotel Management/FCIs located across the country.
A departmental canteen is set up at government costs inside a government office or establishment at "no-profit-no-loss" basis. And those are guided by a rule book informally called "Green Book" (The official name is: "Administrative Instructions on Departmental Canteen in Offices and Industrial Establishments") In smaller offices with less than 100 employees, Tiffin rooms are established, and not full-fledged canteens. Type "A", one of the six types of canteens or Tiffin rooms, caters to an office employing as many as 700 to 1200 employees.