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| Students of ZP High School in Ibrahimpatnam in Krishna district having their mid-day meal |
TheHansIndia: Amaravati: Taking serious note of non-implementation of prescribed menu of mid-day meal scheme in several schools, the government has decided to make it a mandatory on providing three eggs per week for each student studying in government-run schools across the state as part of providing nutritious food for the children.
Considering the report of National Institute of Nutrition(NIN) the government has directed the DEOs to strictly implement the prescribed menu in the mid-day meal and has also decided not to exempt any agency or institution like Akshaya Patra Foundation, ISKCON etc on providing eggs to the students in the guise of religious traditions.
At present, the government is implementing mid-day meal in 45,528 schools across the state which includes municipal, aided, ZP, MPP and government schools. The schools run by tribal welfare and social welfare department will not come under the control of the Commissioner of School Education on implementing mid-day meal.
While the government has given the cooking responsibility of midday meal to DWACRA women self-groups in several districts, Akshaya Patra, ISKCON and some other religious organisations are providing food to the students, establishing huge kitchens with their own expenditure. Akshaya Patra Foundation is supplying mid-day meal to some of the government schools located in Guntur, East Godavari districts while the proposal to supply in Visakhapatnam, Krishna, Chittoor, Nellore districts is pending with the government.
Speaking to The Hans India, B Vijaya Rao, Assistant Director, Office of Commissioner School Education and in-charge of Mid-day Meal department said that all the DEOs have been instructed to strictly implement the prescribed menu for a midday meal in all the schools without compromising on providing eggs.
“We have attached the report of NIN which says that there is no compensatory supplement to the egg. As part of providing nutritious food to the children, the government is providing three eggs per week for each children studying in State-run schools,’’ he said.
