Now, local fruits to be part of mid-day meals in Punjab

Vishav Bharti

Chandigarh, February 7

In a change of decision, the state government has asked the School Education Department to introduce any seasonal fruit instead of providing only banana in the mid-day meal.

Sources in the department revealed that the decision has been taken after directions came from the Chief Minister.

Directions

• District education officers and school heads have been asked to explore the possibility of introducing seasonal fruits
• Schools located in south Punjab can go in for kinnow, which is available at an affordable price in the Abohar area
• Pathankot schools can opt for litchi while those in Hoshiarpur can give guavas
• They have also been asked to consider ‘ber’ for Malwa region and mango for schools in Shivalik foothills

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has asked the department that the decision on what fruit to be given to schoolchildren should be left to the school heads.

As per a communication sent to all district education officers and school heads, they have been asked to explore the possibility of introducing seasonal fruits in the mid-day meal. The schools have also been asked to procure any fruit which is locally grown in their area. Schools located in south Punjab can go in for kinnow, which is available at an affordable price in Abohar area.

Similarly, Pathankot schools can opt for litchi and while those in Hoshiarpur can give guavas. They have also been asked to consider ‘ber’ for schools in Malwa region and mango for schools in Shivalik foothills. The decision will come into an effect immediately.

The farmers’ bodies had appealed to the government that instead of banana, which is grown outside the state and reaches here after high transportation cost, the government must consider local varieties of fruit. With this decision, not only the schoolchildren will get fresh fruits, it will also help the local farmers as well.

From January 1 this year, the Education Department had decided to serve bananas every Monday to around 19 lakh students from UKG to Class VIII across the state. The scheme was started for three months from January to March as around Rs 12 crore of central funds under the mid-day meal head would have lapsed if not used. Each school was sanctioned Rs 5 per banana for each student.