Team Herald
PANJIM: Under the revised mid-day meal scheme, slated to be implemented from November 1, school authorities and Parents Teachers Associations (PTAs) will have to ensure that quality and quantity of the food is checked before it is served to students. The report of the food assessment will have to be recorded in a register daily.
“The headmaster/in-charge teacher should check/test the quality of the food supplied every day before serving it to the students. He/she should record his/her assessment about quality and quantity and other aspects of the food items served, in a daily register,” Education Director G P Bhat said.
The circular, sent to all concerned, including Self Help Groups and Mahila Mandals, also mentions that one PTA member should inspect and test the food quality, and counter sign the monthly mid-day meal bill.
The mid-day meal, covering all government and aided schools, has knocked out pulao from the list and replaced it with chapati-bhaji. The reason for the replacement was because students were not keen on consuming pulao and it often went waste.
In the new scheme, the food items include chole bhaji and pao/poli, masoor bhaji and chapati, red chowli bhaji and chapati, chana bhaji and pao/poli, chana-kuleeth mix bhaji and pao/poli, and chowli-paute mix bhaji and chapati.
“Each of the items should contain 450 calories and 12 gms of proteins for primary students, and 700 calories and 20 gms of proteins for upper primary and high school students,” the circular states.
School heads have constantly been directed by the department to taste the food and monitor its quality, before serving it to students.
The revised scheme has also increased the rates for the meal, the new rates being Rs 5.71 per student per day for the primary, and Rs 6.79 per student per day for the upper primary and high schools. However, with this, the department has also warned of strict action if the meal is found faulty.
The department has given teachers and PTA the liberty to reject the food on any day and refuse signing the bill, if the meal is found not suitable. “In case there is defect in the supply, it should be brought to the notice of the concerned ADEI with a detailed statement of the teachers/members of the PTA for taking necessary action against the defaulter self help group/mahila mandal under intimation of the head office,” Bhat said in the circular.
