Ludhiana: Teachers slam kitchen awards amid mid-day meal fund crunch

The 'Beautiful Kitchen' initiative honors clean kitchens in schools, but teachers criticize it amid delayed mid-day meal funding for over two months.

The district elementary education department has announced block-level winners under its ‘Beautiful Kitchen’ initiative, but the move has sparked criticism from government school teachers, who point to the irony of recognising “clean kitchens” when mid-day meal funds have not been released for over two months.

Mid-day meal workers at Government Primary School, Moti Nagar, in Ludhiana on Saturday. (HT)

The initiative covered all government primary schools across the district and winners were selected from each block. Among the schools recognised were Government Primary Schools (GPS) in Tamkaudi (Doraha), Madnipur from Dehlon-2, PAU school in Mangat-1, Singhpura from Ludhiana-2, Moti Nagar from Mangat-2, Dango from Pakhowal and Ghumait from Mangat-3. Similarly, schools in Bhourla from Samrala, Kanganwal from Ludhiana-1, Issewal from Sidhwan Bet-2 and Sidhwan Bet girls’ school from Sidhwan Bet-1 were chosen. From Jagraon, central (boys) and Rasulpur were declared the best.

Block primary education officers prepared detailed reports after assessing schools on multiple parameters, including use of gas cylinders, availability of safe drinking water through RO systems, overall cleanliness, proper lighting and ventilation, hygiene of storage containers for grains and spices and even the use of mustard oil for cooking.

While officials hailed the drive as a step to ensure higher standards of hygiene in mid-day meal kitchens, teachers argued that it was impractical to evaluate kitchen quality when schools had been struggling to even provide meals due to lack of funds. Teachers said the cooking cost had not been released for months, leaving many schools under debts of nearly ₹50,000.

Jagjit Singh Mann, district president of the Government Teachers Union, said, “Despite repeated requests, funds have not been released. Schools are already under a financial burden, and it is becoming extremely difficult to continue the mid-day meal scheme without adequate support.”

Meanwhile, the department has also released the mid-day meal menu for September. As per the schedule, seasonal fruits will be provided to children every Monday and kheer will be served on Tuesdays. Teachers, however, fear that such promises will remain only on paper unless funds are immediately disbursed.

District education officer (elementary) Ravinder Kaur assured that the pending funds would soon be released.