The Yogi Adityanath Government in Uttar Pradesh, which is working towards providing hot cooked food to children aged 3 to 6 years at Anganwadi centres, is planning to keep a uniform menu for the smooth operation of the Mid-Day Meal scheme.
“According to the proposal, the same food will be served to the children at Anganwadi centres, which is being served to the children in basic schools under the scheme. This proposal was recently put forward in the State-level task force meeting on the Hot Cooked Meal Scheme, which was chaired by Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra. The task force will make a decision on this, and it might get approval from the Chief Minister,” the CMO said in a press release.
The proposal suggests that approximately 65 per cent of Anganwadi centres in the State are located on the premises of primary and upper primary schools. Therefore, the food will be prepared in the kitchens of these schools. Hence, the proposal is to keep a menu similar to the PM Nutrition Scheme (Mid-Day Meal).
“The menu for the week would include roti, seasonal vegetables with added soybean, and fresh seasonal fruit. On Tuesday, students will be served rice with dal and vegetables, Wednesday will include ‘tahari’ with seasonal vegetables and soybeans and on Thursday they will have roti with dal and vegetables. On Friday and Saturday, tahari with seasonal vegetables and soybeans, and dal with rice and vegetables will be served respectively. However, the priority will be given to millets in hot cooked food,” the press release further said.
The Chief Secretary directed officials at the meeting that under the PM Nutrition Scheme in the co-located Anganwadi centres, hot cooked food should be prepared and made available to the children by the cooks in the kitchens located near the primary and upper primary schools. Anganwadi centres located within a radius of 200 meters should be linked to the nearest primary school.
“The Chief Secretary further instructed that the responsibility of delivering the prepared cooked meal to the Anganwadi centre and distributing and serving it to the children should be given to the Anganwadi helpers. If there are two schools within a radius of 200-meters, priority should be given to the nearby primary and upper primary schools,” the press release added.
(with inputs from ANI)
