Kids' RTI Covers Midday Meal Menu

New Delhi, Dec 11 (UNI) The menu of mid-day meals and the number of children served must be displayed by schools on a weekly or monthly basis ''to ensure transparency,'' Parliament was told today.

But in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Human Resource Development M A A Fatmi did not say whether a failure will entail any consequences.

The revised guidelines of Mid-Day Meal Scheme issued to States and Union Territories in September 2006 required schools to display that and more under the Right to Information Act, Mr Fatmi said.

The data to be displayed also includes quantity of food grains received, date of receipt, quantity of food grains utilised, number of children given mid-day meal and roster of community members involved in the programme, he added.

He said details of any ingredients purchased and utilised must also be put on dispay.

School authorities are also required to make available material or documents about the programme whenever asked by parents or general public for perusal, he said.

Mr Fatmi said States and UTs must develop dedicated mechanism for public grievance redressal and widely publicise it through toll-free numbers and other such devices.

He said the revised guidelines set a nutritional norm of 450 calories and 12 grams of protein, cooking cost assistance in Northeastern States at Re 1.80 per child per school day, and Re 1.50 per child per school day elsewhere.

Those costs are subject to contribution by State or UT governments at 20 paise per child in the Northeast and 50 paise per child elsewhere, he made it clear.

The original norm was 300 calories and 8-12 grams of protein.

He said the new guidelines allow an assistance of Rs 60,000 per unit to build a kitchen-cum-store and Rs 5,000 per school to buy kitchen devices, if these are not possible to obtail through convergence with other development programmes.

Guidelines also entail such interventions as regular health check-up, supplementation of micronutrients and de-worming medicines with the help of the National Rural Health Mission.

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