Teachers relieved as Punjab ropes in NGOs for mid-day meals

Ferozepur, Sep 1 (UNI) The teachers in government schools in Punjab could relax and concentrate on imparting knowledge as they would no more need to sweat to cook food for students under mid-day meal scheme.

The state government has launched a pilot project by roping in non-government organisations for supplying cooked food in all primary and middle schools in Ferozepur, Tarn Taran and Nawanshahr districts, soureces here said.

In Ferozepur district, the contract for supplying the cooked food to the students has been given to Delhi-based NGO 'Naari Shakti, which commenced the task to distribute food to 1.80 lakh students in the district today.

According to information, for 2200 primary and middle schools in the district, the NGO has established three kitchens at Abohar, Guruhar Sahai and Zira from where the cooked food would be dispatched to all the nearby schools.

If this experiment clicked, the scheme would be extended to all the remaining districts in the state, they said.

The mid-day meal scheme was launched by the Centre with the objective of giving a boost to universalisation of primary education and providing nutrition to students in primary and middle classes.

As the teaching staff of the schools had been entrusted to arrange cooked food for the students under the scheme, they were complaining that the additional charge adversely affected their primary activity of teaching and disrupted the academic schedule.

UNI XC JN MMS1647