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Maharashtra govt proposes 379 kitchen gardens in thane schools
Students of government schools will get more nutritious food.
Students of government schools will get more nutritious food.
The state government has proposed setting up 379 kitchen gardens across Thane district with an aim to provide healthy meals and increase the number of students in its schools.
The initiative is for schools in both rural and urban areas. The produce from the kitchen gardens will be included in the midday meals. The healthy meals aim at increasing admissions in schools.
Introduced by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD), the initiative has also issued guidelines for developing and maintaining kitchen gardens in all schools, in urban as well as rural areas.
“Some schools in the district especially in rural areas already have kitchen gardens. However, the initiative will ensure that children will learn how to grow vegetables and fruits in schools and homes as well,” said an official from the education department of Thane zilla parishad.
“We will soon invite schools that are interested in setting up a kitchen garden. Depending on the space and provision, we will identify 379 schools,” he said.
The guidelines by the government focus on setting up a kitchen garden anywhere, even in a school in a crowded urban area. “We built the kitchen garden in our school two years ago. Leafy vegetables from the garden help in a nutritious midday meal. If students get wholesome nutrition, they are more attentive in class,” said Dutta Umate, teacher in zilla parishad school at Pathardi.
The government will provide seeds, saplings, organic manure, training and technical assistance by tying up with agencies such as Krishi Vigyan Kendras, department of agriculture/ horticulture, food and nutrition board, state agriculture universities and forest department. Activities such as construction of a boundary wall and levelling of land for kitchen garden can be done under MGNREGA scheme.
