The Centre will soon introduce protocols for mandatory testing of the quality of the midday meal.
The Human Resource Development Ministry has initiated the move, aiming to checking complaints about serving contaminated and low-calorie food to schoolchildren under the scheme.
The moves comes mainly because the Ministry’s guidelines for serving safe and hygienic food to school children and mandatory testing of the food samples from the schools have largely remained ineffective.
Reports about poor-quality meals served under the scheme keep coming in from different parts of the country. In February, more than 200 children began showing symptoms of food poisoning after serving of midday meals at a school in Palghar district of Mumbai.
“The protocol for testing of mid day meal is being finalised in consultation with experts. The views of the states were also sought because the testing protocols cannot be implemented without their active support,” official sources told DH.
The midday meal testing protocols will make the implementation of the scheme “more effective,” they added.
Last year, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India observed gross irregularities in the implementation of the midday meal scheme while conducting performance audit of the centre-sponsored programme at 27 states (except Mizoram) and seven union territories.
As per rules framed under the food security Act, all primary school students are entitled for midday meal with nutritional value of at least 450 calories and 12 gm of protein, while students of upper primary classes must get meals with nutritional value of at least 700 calories and 20 gm protein.