No funds, No skilled chefs; Kerala's revised midday meal scheme in disarray

KOZHIKODE: Schools are unable to provide midday meals to children according to the revised menu. Insufficient funds and the lack of skilled cooks to prepare the dishes are proving to be a hindrance. Except for fried rice and lemon rice, which were introduced on an experimental basis in some districts, the old menu is still followed in many schools.

In most schools, the cooks are over 50 years old. Many of them have no expertise in preparing the new dishes. At least in some schools, food is prepared in collaboration with PTA office bearers and teachers.

One day a week, one of the following should be prepared: vegetable fried rice, lemon rice, veg biryani, tomato rice, or coconut rice. The new menu also requires vegetable curry or kuruma. The current funds are inadequate to prepare different meals.

Midday meal is served 20 days a month. To serve food for 20 days in a school with 100 children, it will cost at least Rs. 13,000. When gas, vehicle, and the wages of porters are included, the budget will cross Rs. 25,000. The central and state share of the LP and UP sections is Rs 6.78 and Rs 10.17 per child per day, respectively. Accordingly, for 20 days, the LP gets Rs 13,560 and the UP gets Rs 20,340. The head teachers of schools admitted that they are forced to spend Rs 12,000 from their pockets, to not disrupt the monthly midday scheme.