School children in Orissa's Ganjam district are now served hygienic and nutritious midday meal, wither higher calories, in a unique programme initiated by Orissa government in collaboration with a corporate donor.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched the programme on Saturday inaugurating the centralised mid-day meal kitchen where the stuff would be made and flagging off the vehicles carrying foods for the children.
The programme, executed by the state in collaboration with the Hyderabad-based organisation, is initially confined within municipality areas feeding about 18,000 students belonging to 71 schools. It would be extended to 833 schools in five blocks covering around 1.30 Lakh students, District Collector VK Pandian said.
The programme will cover around 4.70 Lakh children from Class I - VII in the district. Other students in distant and remote areas could not be covered immediately as the vehicles carrying the foods for distribution took time, he said.
The foundation would implement such projects in Kalahandi district from next month.