UP to decide uniform menu for Mid-Day Meal scheme,millets on priority

The same food will be served to children in Anganwadi centres which is served to students in basic schools. Post Diwali, Anganwadi kids will enjoy food prepared in government schools. However, the priority will be given to millets in hot cooked food.

Lucknow The state government, working to provide hot meals to children aged 3 to 6 years at Anganwadi centres, is likely to decide on a uniform menu for smooth operation of the Mid-Day Meal scheme.

The menu for the first day of the week would include roti, seasonal vegetables with added soybean and fresh seasonal fruit. (Pic for representation)

According to the proposal, the same food will be served to children in Anganwadi centres which is served to students in basic schools. Post Diwali, Anganwadi kids will enjoy food prepared in government schools.

This proposal was recently put forward in the state-level task force meeting chaired by chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra. The task force will take a decision and it might be endorsed by the chief minister, according to a government press release.

Millets a priority

The proposal says that approximately 65 per cent of Anganwadi centres in the state are located on the premises of primary and upper primary schools. Therefore, the food will be prepared in the kitchens of these schools. Hence, a menu similar to the PM Nutrition Scheme (Mid-Day Meal) has been proposed.

The menu for the first day of the week would include roti, seasonal vegetables with added soybean and fresh seasonal fruit. On Tuesday, students will be served rice with dal and vegetables, Wednesday’s meal will include ‘tahari’ with seasonal vegetables and soybeans and on Thursday, the kids will have roti with dal and vegetables. On Friday and Saturday, tahari with seasonal vegetables and soybeans, and dal with rice and vegetables will be served respectively. However, the priority will be given to millets in hot cooked food.

Anganwadi helpers to serve food

The chief secretary directed officials in the meeting that under the PM Nutrition Scheme, in the co-located Anganwadi centres, hot meals should be prepared and made available to the children by the cooks in the kitchens located near the primary and upper primary schools. Anganwadi centres located within a radius of 200 metres should be linked to the nearest primary school.

Mishra instructed that the responsibility of delivering the prepared meals to the Anganwadi centre and serving it to the children should be given to the Anganwadi helpers. If there are two schools within a radius of 200 metres, priority should be given to the nearby primary and upper primary schools.