The Mid-day Meal Rules, 2015, notified by the Government of India (GoI)
puts forth certain stipulations pertaining to the meals served to school children
as a part of the Mid-day Meal Scheme. Among other things, it stresses on the
nutritional standards and quality of mid-day meals; the latter being given due importance
this time around.
Mid-day Meals Quality Guidelines
As far as the nutritional standards are concerned, it is stipulated that
mid-day meals should provide 450 calories and 12 g protein for primary students
and 700 calories and 20 g protein for upper primary students. The implementing
bodies, i.e., government schools, partnering non-profit organisations, etc., have
to plan the menu accordingly. They can rotate the food items, or vegetables
that are used in preparation of these food items, on a daily basis to ensure
that the children get necessary nutrients in prescribed quantity.
Now, the personnel from an accredited lab can evaluate hot cooked meal
samples as and when deemed necessary to ensure its nutritional value and
quality.
These new guidelines bring about a much-needed change to the ambitious
scheme. The quality of meal served to children deserves more attention,
considering that the number of beneficiaries of this programme runs to the tune
of over 100 million. Thus, not taking the quality aspect seriously will mean
putting millions of children at risk and any untoward incident will affect the
whole programme. The authorities need to ensure that such incidents do not occur;
implementing stringent quality check regulations is one way to do this.
The notification makes it mandatory for every school to have a facility
for storing raw materials and cooking meals without compromising on the
hygiene. Additionally, it’s important that the cooking staff maintains personal
hygiene and wears gloves, masks, caps, etc., while cooking in order to avoid
contamination. Also, there should be a proper arrangement of clean water and a waste
disposal site in the vicinity.
The notification of new rules is a crucial step that will help in
improving the quality of Mid-day Meal Programme. When a programme is being run
at such a grand scale, it has to be constantly evaluated to minimize problems
and make it more effective. One of the non-profit organisations, the Akshaya Patra Foundation’s handling of
Mid-day Meal Programme is an apt example of the same.
How Akshaya Patra is Showing the
Way?
The Akshaya Patra Foundation started serving meals to children in 2001—well
before MDMS in its current form came into existence—and joined the Government
to implement this programme when it was started. At the Foundation, elaborate
measures are taken to ensure that the quality of food served as a part of the Mid-day Meal
Programme in schools is
up to the mark.
The Food Safety Management System (FSMS) is implemented in Akshaya Patra
kitchens and the entire staff is trained in this aspect. Even in the
decentralized kitchens in Baran, Rajasthan, and Nayagarh, Odisha, where women
self-help groups cook mid-day meals, due importance is given to quality. The
staff at these kitchens is trained and monitored by a team appointed by the Foundation.
In fact, Akshaya Patra’s expertise on this aspect has even prompted
several State Governments to ask the organisation to organise workshops on food
safety, quality, and personal hygiene for cook-cum-helpers in their states.
Personal hygiene is also given utmost importance at Akshaya Patra
kitchens. Both, kitchen staff and visitors are provided caps, masks, gloves,
and disinfectant to avoid contamination of food. The raw materials that are to
be procured are done only after taking food safety standards into consideration
and are accepted only after thorough inspection. Vegetables are sanitized in chlorine
water before they are cut and vessels are sanitized with hot water before the cooking
process begins.
Even the menu is based on regional palate, keeping in mind recommended
nutritional standards. Thus, the kitchens in the North follow a wheat-based
menu, while those in the South follow a rice-based menu. In order to ensure that
the nutritional standards are met, a variety of vegetables (E.g., beetroot,
carrots, pumpkins, brinjals, etc.) and pulses (E.g., lentils, soybeans, kidney
beans, etc.) are used and the cooked food is subjected to Theoretical
Nutritional Value Calculation as per the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN)
and lab analysis.
Food is packed in steam-sterilized vessels and dispatched only after its
taste and texture are checked. Before loading the food in delivery vehicles,
their cleanliness is also checked. Even school authorities are advised to check
whether the food vessels are clean, covered tightly with a lid, food is warm,
etc.
The adoption of global quality practices, such as Kaizen and Six Sigma, has
helped the Foundation improve the efficiency of the entire process, thus
ensuring that they reach out to over 1.5 million children with nutritious meal.
A lot goes into ensuring the quality of mid-day
meals; right from careful selection of menu to proper hygiene. Having said
that, all these efforts are worth taking because the mid-day meal is at times,
the only meal many of these children afford. In a country, where malnutrition
is a chronic problem, the mid-day meal comes as a blessing in disguise.
Follow us on:
