IIP offers solution for safer, hygienic midday meal

The Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP)  is contemplating lending its expertise to the implementation of midday meal scheme, which has come under the scanner recently. The idea is to ensure supply of quality food to the children.

“We took the initiative last year. In Maharashtra and West Bengal, we did a survey at 35 centres which are implementing the midday meal project,”  N C Saha, Director, IIP, said.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event organised here on Friday, he said, “We took it up as our own R&D project. We were surprised by the way food was being prepared and distributed. We are going to make a proposal. We will develop a prototype.”

He added that various designs were being explored including developing a collapsible and returnable package, which children can carry home and bring back.

According to Union minister of state for commerce and industryD Purandeswari the proposal was still in a preliminary stage.

Meanwhile stressing the need for increasing research and development in packaging, she said, though there were 22,000 packaging units in the country, 80 per cent of them were small units and 50 per cent were fragments.

“India is the food capital, but 40 to 50 per cent fruits and vegetables are wasted before they go to the market. India is an agrarian economy. We can export processed food. But, the only concern is that the Western world asks for the quality. Hence, we need to keep a tracking system to find faults. Already APREDA is doing in case of grapes exports, Pharmexcil is also doing in case of bulk drugs,” she said.