Mid-day meals resume after two yrs, 3.22 lakh R'sthan students get cooked food

Jaipur, March 9 The mid-day meal scheme, which was discontinued due to the corona pandemic in the state, resumed on Wednesday after a gap of two years.

On this day, cooked meals were distributed to about 3.22 lakh children in 10 districts of Rajasthan by Akshaya Patra Foundation. This food was prepared in the centralized kitchens of Akshaya Patra following all set guidelines of the government,

Raghupati Das, Rajasthan in-charge of the Akshaya Patra Foundation, said that the food prepared through state-of-the-art machines in the centralized kitchens of Akshaya Patra is completely hygienic and follows the government guidelines which are based on nutritional value and menu as set by them.

The whole cooking process is mechanized, in which 100 kg of flour is kneaded in 9 minutes and 40000 chapatis are prepared in one machine in 1 hour.

A total of 1200 kgs of pulses or vegetables, and equal amounts of rice are prepared at one time. The organization has a state of the art vehicle to ensure that the food reaches the schools safely in the most hygienic manner. This mid-day meal is distributed to over 1 lakh students in Jaipur, 27000 in Ajmer, 15000 in Bhilwara, 32000 in Bikaner, 18000 in Jodhpur, 53000 in Nathdwara, 30000 in Udaipur, 14000 in Chittorgarh and 12000 in Sahariya region of Baran, he said.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a non-profit voluntary organization, through which food has been distributed to lakhs of people as per the instructions of the state government when the mid-day meal was stopped due to the coronavirus.

Along with the help of donors about 75,000 ration kits have been distributed, said Siddha Swaroop Das, Rajasthan media in- charge of the Akshaya Patra Foundation.