Technopark Food report response
By Kerala IT News

Vital Links & Services, the company which runs the Food Court at Thejawani in Technopark, Trivandrum, has alleged that the audit report of restaurants, food outlets and joints in the Technopark campus is part of a sustained malicious campaign by Technopark authorities to oust them from Technopark. The Food audit is an element of the annual Technopark ISO certification Process

We are publishing their response (unedited).

“
Dear Editor, I read this article about the food establishments at Technopark on Kerala IT News and I would like to state that it is in very bad taste, derogatory, degrading, dis-informative and not substantiated. You should have verified the contents before publishing the same. We don’t know which Technopark executives are informing you about these issues and why you are publishing the same before verifying the true facts!!!

Let us question all your issues written:

1. What was happening in Technopark before 2008 when the food court was not operational? It is only because of the branded Food court that all the other players improved their quality and ambience. It is also facts that after the opening of the Food court the attrition levels in the Technopark companies have fallen down.

2. Well we would not like to comment much on the other establishments but would like to state that our brands and we are very conscious on quality and service and would have preferred if you would have verified your comments on some of our brand partners!

3. Which company / body has carried out this audit? Is it approved or accredited by any established well known audit company with expertise in this field? Or they are just stating their findings to defame us because of undue pressures from Technopark executives! In fact we have the true findings from Technopark about us when they officially carried out an audit earlier. Why did you not ask Technopark for the reports?

4. Why have you not gone to the depths of why and how the Technopark CEO and its executives have sent a termination letter to the Food court? Have the so called executives you interviewed, not mentioned that the Ombudsman of the State of Kerala has fined and penalised Technopark for their partial and authoritarian behaviour? There are several cases pending in the legal courts in Kerala and we are wondering the how come the Technopark executives you have interviewed or given their statement be published when the matters are sub-judice?

5. Are you also out to defame our brand partners and us, like the Technopark executives???

6. The units as mentioned by you in our food court were not shut due to poor management or bad quality; but because Mothers Kitchen was in cahoots with some of the Technopark executives. In spite of their not paying us for over 18 months and dues over Rs.30 lakhs, some of the Technopark executives favoured him tremendously and bent backwards to please him for their own personal reasons and gains! In fact even as on date, Mothers kitchen owner is being favoured by the some Technopark executives and they wish to see us shut for their own reasons as he is being seen in corridors of Park Centre.

7. The other brands you mentioned closed down due to the daily interference of Technopark executives and their partialism and feudal behaviour.

8. Dominos and other partners in our food court are right by refusing permission for an audit. Vital Links & Services has taken the place from Technopark and opened a Food court and it is proper and ethical if any company or body asks us first, that they wish to carry out an audit!

9. As regards to certain issues of quality you have mentioned about our partner brands, you should have shown us the proof which generally people do; and not publish before proving to us or our staff about the issues you have mentioned.

We can only state that this article of yours has been written and ill advised to you, by some persons and authorities who choose to defame and demoralise us and the resources working at Technopark; as they wish to see us close down to suit their personal endeavours and gains.

If you or any person wishes to see the written orders and developments against us by Technopark authorities which are pending in various legal courts in Kerala, please do call on us before you make wild statements and accusations.

I would appreciate if you could publish our reply unedited; as the unsubstantiated copy which you carried has caused a lot of negative publicity to our brand partners and us because of your taking sides to favour some officials from Park Centre.

Naviin Shyam Poddar
Director
Vital Links & Services
“

(Techgoss published the following on Oct 21, 2011)

Technopark Techies health hazard
By Kerala IT News

Working in Technopark Trivandrum, Kerala? It’s ok as long as you are not eating anything from the various restaurants, food joints and the outlets of leading food chains there. Food from 18 out of 19 outlets / restaurants / food joints in the Technopark campus, which was audited by a leading IT company there, failed to achieve the minimum standards set for safe consumption.

There are 21 such places in the Technopark Campus and while one is closed for renovation, the outlet of a leading pizza chain refused to let their premises to be inspected.

Concerned with the health of its employees, the company, which is one of the largest employers in Technopark, recently audited these outlets / restaurants / food joints keeping a set of well defined parameters. The team will be submitting a copy of the report to Technopark authorities. The sorry state of affairs of these places is a reflection of the innumerable complaints about the quality of food being served; leave apart the pricing, which is another bone of contention.

Some of the key findings of the report are:

1. Excessive use of artificial colouring / flavouring agents in most food joints. There are specific references to Rangoli, which runs three restaurants (Bhawani, Nila & near Park Centre)
2. Use of milk after expiry date in milk shakes / desserts, with specific reference to Passion Fruit which has two outlets (Nila & Thejaswani)
3. Cockroaches / insects in raw food packets, specifically noodle packets in restaurants serving Chinese food
4. Serving plates are not washed properly, serious issue at Thejaswani Food Court as it has centralised washing system and a common washing area
5. Cleanliness inside kitchen of most outlets is an issue, no or minimum usage of disinfectants
6. Repeated usage of heated oil for frying
7. Use of food items after the ‘Best Before’ dates

The audit report comes at a time when Vital Links, the company which runs the food court at Thejaswani has been issued a Termination Notice of its contact by Technopark and new contracts to run the outlets at Bhawani are being finalised or issued. The opening of the food court in Thejaswani in 2008 gave some relief to the techies but it was short lived as several outlets like Mothers Kitchen, Paapa Pancho & the Chinese food joint shut shop following allegations of mismanagement and poor quality food.

The report is not surprising looking at the comments and discussions going on in websites like My Technopark and Technopark Today. The quality and pricing of food has been a major issue for the last several years. Going by the comments, Rangoli seems have mastered the art of serving cooked worms and roasted cockroaches on a regular basis to the techies. There are also reports of techies getting rotten (stale) chicken from Chick King; stapler pin in elayappam from Rangoli; ice cold masala dosa and uppuma which taste like fevicol from Spice Malabar.

The very fact that Dominos refused permission for audit shows that they have got something to hide and feared being exposed. While smoking is banned inside the campus, there is open sale of cigarettes in Food Court (Thejaswani). Food items in Technopark are exorbitantly priced. Most places do not give back the change especially if paid by food coupons. The techies also have to face humiliation and arrogant behaviour from the people who manage these places.

Note: We contacted the Technopark CEO regarding this report. We are waiting for his response and will update the story as we get the same. We hope this audit report will be an eye opener as there are about 30,000 employees in the campus. We also hope that there will be serious action against the offenders.

(In Techgoss syndication arrangement with Keralaitnews.com )