Foodgrains for midday meal are substandard: Thane zilla parishad schools

Thane

Thane

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Zilla parishad schools have complained that poor quality rice and pulses are being provided for midday meal.

Schools said that there have been instances where they have dumped the grains and purchased it themselves for midday meal for students.

However, zilla parishad officials said they have not received any complaints against the provisions.

“We have not received any official complaint from the zilla parishad schools. However, we will ensure that there is a quality check in schools. We will also carry out inspections before providing ration for midday meal scheme to schools. The midday meal scheme was started to ensure nutritious meal for children and this should be followed properly,” said Sangeeta Bhagwat, education officer, Zilla Parishad, Thane.

Thane district has 1,500 schools and around 2 lakh students in zilla parishad schools.

“Last month, we received 40kgs of various types of pulses from the zilla parishad. But the pulses had lumps as it had got wet in the rain. These lumps could have fungus in it and hence cannot be given to children. We had to throw away the sack full of pulses,” said a principal of a zilla parishad school on condition of anonymity.

An official from the zilla parishad said, “It is not possible for all schools to visit the centre and collect grains and pulses every month so they sometimes share the responsibility with other schools. As each person has a huge amount to collect, they return without checking the quality.”

Teachers have been complaining that the Thane zilla parishad schools would get a special complementary meal for students once a month. However, this has also stopped across the district now. Teachers are now making use of other methods to provide a wholesome meal to students.

“We have our own kitchen garden in the school. This helps as we include leafy vegetables in the midday meal. Students get healthy food as we don’t allow the poor quality grains to be cooked for them,” said Lata Mangeshi, a teacher at a zilla parishad school in Shahapur.

Guidelines not followed by contractors in Kalyan

Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) has not been following guidelines to provide midday meal. Right to Information (RTI) query by activist Shreyas Samel on December 10 revealed that the corporation is not ensuring that the guidelines are being followed as a blacklisted contractor and again bagged the contract.

“A contractor was terminated by KDMC after a lizard was found in the midday meal provided by them in 2008. He has been given the contract again,” said Samel.

Most of the 12 organisations, that have been given contract to prepare midday meals, do not have their cooking area within the civic body’s jurisdiction.

“The main purpose of the midday meal is to ensure that the meal provided is nutritious and fresh. If the kitchen of the contractor is far, it will affect the food quality. Every meal needs to be cooked and served at a set temperature at the said time,” Samel said.

He plans to approach the anti-corruption bureau to look into the issue. “Most of the contractors are following the guidelines and we ensure that students get timely meals. A few contractors are in the process of building their kitchen and hence they have been given the permission to supply midday meals for a few months from a temporary place within the city limits,” said JJ Tadvi, education officer, KDMC.