BHUBANESWAR: Primary school teachers, who are in charge of providing mid-day meals (MDM) at government schools, have demanded Rs 10-Rs 15 hike in the food cost to ensure proper nutrition for the students.
In August, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had announced a Rs 1 hike per meal. The teachers said this will not suffice in meeting the cost of preparing noon meals considering the rise in prices of almost all essential commodities.
Members of All Utkal Primary Teachers’ Federation said while no notification on the hike has reached them yet, government should hike the MDM cost by at least Rs 10 to Rs 15 per meal. Cooked MDM is provided to 45 lakh students in 50,485 primary and upper primary schools in the state. The menu includes rice with dalma on Mondays and Thursdays, soya bean curry on Tuesdays and Fridays and egg curry on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Under PM-POSHAN scheme, a primary student (Class I to V) has to be served 25 gm of dal and it is 30 gm in case of upper primary student (Class VI to VIII). When it comes to soya beans, it is 12 gm for a primary student and 25 gm for upper primary student. One egg is served to a student.
Prior to the hike, the MDM rate per meal was Rs 5.90 for primary and Rs 8.82 for upper primary students. This cost was fixed in 2022. “The grocery for cooking mid-day meals is primarily purchased at retail rate from the shops located closest to the schools. Considering the inflation in food prices, schools are forced to buy inferior quality commodities at low prices, thereby compromising on the nutritional aspect of mid-day meals,” said general secretary of the association Charulata Mohapatra.
The association members said they had earlier this year approached the state government to hike the MDM cost from Rs 15 to Rs 25 a meal but only Rs 1 was increased. “If the government is serious about providing nutritious food to the children, it should study the current inflation and take a decision accordingly,” said another member.