Iskcon push for midday meal scheme

Jamshedpur, July 9:The Iskcon Food Relief Foundation in collaboration with Tata Steel is set to launch a pilot project in Ramdas Bhatta Community Centre.

Plans are on to improve the quality of midday meals served at government schools by the end of this year. If successful, the project will be extended phase-wise in various parts of the state.

Director of Iskcon's Food Relief Foundation (midday meal programme) Sanjay Tikku, who is in the city to lay the foundation stone tomorrow, told The Telegraphthat a fully mechanised kitchen would be constructed at the site in close to four months.

"It will be the first-of-its-kind in the state for midday meals. The food being prepared there will be free of human contact and will be cooked under hygienic conditions meeting international standards," Tikku said.

He added that the cooked food would be packed in sealed packets and transported to different schools in pick-up vans.

"The cooking process will be through steam heat that will be generated by boilers. Thereafter the cooked food would be garnished by our qualified staff and packed, sealed and weighed and dispatched. The staff will wear specially treated gloves, aprons and masks during the entire process. The stainless steel containers used will also be hygienic meeting norms set down by the Union government," said Tikku.

Prodded about the staff to be employed, the Iskcon food director said close to 70 people from neighbouring states of Bengal and Orissa would be trained for a month at the foundation's main kitchen in Delhi before being shifted to the state. The foundation currently operates 23 kitchens across the country.

The costs of the project has been pegged at Rs 4.5 crore and will span over a 13,000sqft area. It is likely to cater to nearly one-lakh students of 400 government schools in Jamshedpur, Adityapur and Gamharia division.

The platter dished out will be in accordance to the list specified by the state government and will comprise rice, dal, khichdi, vegetables and sweet rice.

"Initially we will be catering to schools within 25-30 kms of our kitchen. For areas like Baharagora and Ghatshila we might open separate kitchens later," Tikku said.