Awareness programme on food safety practices

Nestlé India, Government of Rajasthan and National Association of Street Food Vendors of India (NASVI) have joined hands to train street vendors in Jaipur. The training of street vendors will be conducted by NASVI and will comprise subjects such as health, hygiene, safe food handling, waste disposal and entrepreneurship. The participants will also be provided certification.

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, Nestlé India launched “Project Serve Safe Food @ Street Food” in November 2016 to encourage the micro and small food business operators to use the knowledge shared on food safety during the training in their everyday business.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Kali Charan Saraf, Hon’ble Minister of Health, Government of Rajasthan said that Jaipur is known for its rich legacy and food. We understand and appreciate the enormous potential and attraction that the city holds as a tourist destination. This training programme for street food vendors will enable them to serve clean and hygienic food while improving their own livelihoods. We are very happy to partner with Nestlé India and NASVI and hope to encourage and motivate the street food vendors for moving towards a more positive future.

Mr. Sanjay Khajuria, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Nestlé India further added that at Nestlé, we believe that we can play an important role by enabling healthier lives. This initiative will provide the necessary impetus in terms of empowering the street food vendors by upgrading their skills. This will also help improved livelihood opportunities. We have already trained 1,500 street food vendors under this programme and we hope to reach out to many more in the days to come.

According to Mr. Arbind Singh, National Coordinator, NASVI, Rajasthan being a tourist hub, the training program will increase income of street vendors and it will also boost image of the state attracting more international and domestic tourist. The training program will add to Rajasthan being a health conscious state. NASVI will also put the data of trained street vendors on the STREETSATHI APP which promotes street vendors.