BENGALURU: Children studying in state government schools will soon get to munch on their favourite nippattu or chakli along with their mid-day meal every day.
Akshaya Patra Foundation (ISKCON) has decided to spice up the mid-day meal by introducing a snack too. Confirming this, an official of the Foundation said, “Though the concept is in the preliminary stage, we plan to introduce it when we get the necessary financial assistance.”
Over six lakh children are covered by Akshaya Patra Foundation’s mid-day meal scheme, for 220 days a year. The snack benefit will also come under the scheme.
The official said the initiative to introduce a snack will also help in better utilisation of the rice supplied by the state government for mid-day meals. “The government provides 100gm rice per child per day. But we have observed that children consume only about 80g. We want to make use of the remaining 20g rice,” said the official.
The Foundation plans to prepare nippattu and chakli with the remaining rice. “We have a kitchen where we prepare mid-day meals. Now, we will need to set up a separate kitchen to prepare the snacks for which we are awaiting funds. Once we get the funds, we will start the process,” he said, adding, “There will be no health risks as we prepare food items without man-made intervention. We will serve the snacks in sealed packets.”