BHUBANESWAR: Provision of mid-day meals (MDM) for students of Class IX and X and distribution of nutrition-rich laddoos to all students was started in all the government schools across the state on the occasion of Odisha Divas on Tuesday.
School and Mass Education minister Nityananda Gond launched the two new initiatives under Mukhyamantri Poshan Yojana (MM-POSHAN) at Government Girls High School at Umerkote in Nabarangpur district.
As per the revised MDM menu, students of Class I to Class X were served laddoos along with rice and soya bean curry. The minister also shared the meal with the students.
“Students of Class IX and X were earlier deprived of MDM as it was only limited to Class I to VIII students. Considering this, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi decided to extend the noon meal scheme to the students of higher grades,” the minister said.
The laddoos will be given to students in their morning assembly on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. They will be made of jaggery, millet, sorghum and almonds. Apart from the laddoos, students will also get eggs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
While the government had last year revised the MDM material cost by (Rs 7.64 for primary and Rs 10.94 for upper primary students), it will now give an additional Rs 3.50 per child towards the material cost of a laddoo.