Indian Express 13.01.2010
Soon, parents to check quality of khichdi served in civic schools
Parents of civic school students will soon be checking the quality of the yellow khichdi served as mid-day meal everyday. Following complaints from students and their wards regarding the quality of the meal, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) now wants parents to verify the quality of the meal and take action accordingly.
Around four lakh students of the BMC-run schools are served khichdi daily.
At present, teachers, school heads and civic officials check the quality of the food served to the students. As per the new proposal, parents of the students will come to the school everyday and check the khichdi, its contents, quality.
“ISKON provides the best quality of khichdi. It is served hot and the packing is also hygienic. However, there is no quality control on the meal that comes from other kitchens. We, therefore, want parents to monitor the meal as they can give an honest opinion which will help us improve the quality of the food,” said Additional Municipal Commissioner (education), A K Singh.
A committee of the parents will submit a report every three months and if there are regular complaints of discrepancies, action will be taken aganist the supplier.
Deputy Education Officer Abasaheb Jadhav said since parents are more concerned about the type of food their children are served, the experiment would work in favour of the civic administration.
There are around 244 organisations including ISKON who provide meals to municipal school students as part of the government’s mid-day meal scheme. While ISKON has the contract to supply khichdi to around 30,000 students, the rest are given the meal from women’s self help groups and private NGOs. According to sources, many of these suppliers operate from slums and chawls. The central government pays half the price of a meal for each child. The cooking charge ie; Rs 1.75 is provided by the state government through the BMC.
