How mid-day meals go up in smoke -K Umashanker

With supply of LPG refills turning inadequate, majority of govt. schools depend on firewood for cooking, resulting in health issues among students

Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh): The tall claim of the government of successful implementation of the mid-day meal schemes in schools appears frivolous in the district as the supplies of provisions are given a short shrift. Despite twelve LPG cylinders per annum are being provided to each school, over 80 per cent of the government schools in the district depend on firewood for cooking, resulting in respiratory problems among students owing to the impact of smoke and soot.

The mid-day meal maintenance committees complain that a gas refill a month for each school is hardly sufficient to cook food for a large number of students. Further, the minders of the scheme say that the payment towards provisions, other than rice, has been pending since January this year. Same is the case for the remuneration of Rs. 1,000 being provided to each cook. Repeated appeals of the maintenance panels, school authorities and Rajiv Vidya Mission and Rashtriya Madhyamika Siksha Abhiyan officials for clearing the dues have borne no fruit. All these factors have a telling effect on quality of food, making students abandon food and return home hungry.

Pusha, who cooks for half a dozen of schools in Chittoor, deplore that she has been fetching provisions by mortgaging her jewellery, with a hope that the payment and her salary would be cleared soon. "Firewood has also become costly these days," she says.

Meanwhile, parents have complained that preparing food amid soot and smoke has led to respiratory problems among their children. Subhan, hailing from Jendaman Street in Chittoor, said that his two children had been suffering from breathing problems since the past six months. Students of Kazhi Municipal School on Ramar Koil Street said that every time they take midday meal; they feel drowsy followed by mild headaches. "We feel dominating smell of smoke in the food," they said.

Rashtriya Bala Swastha Karyakramam (RBSK) district coordinator Dr. Annareddy Sudarsan said that children who eat food cooked with firewood in poorly ventilated kitchens are prone to serious health risks, to start with respiratory problems. "We will inspect all schools in the district to check this malady," he said.