Mid-day meal is one of the huge project initiated by the government of India which feeds over 100 million school children across the country. To maintain the quality of the mid-day meal, several measures have been taken.

1. [HOW IS THE QUALITY OF MID-
DAY MEALS MAINTAINED?]
When it comes to a project as huge as the Mid-day Meal Programme, which feeds over 100 million
school children across the country, quality is as important as efficiency. Thus, elaborate measures are
taken to ensure that the quality of mid-day meals is up to the mark.

2. The Akshaya Patra Foundation
The Mid-day Meal Rules, 2015, notified by the Government of India (GoI)
puts forth certain stipulations pertaining to the meals served to school
children as a part of the Mid-day Meal Scheme. Among other things, it
stresses on the nutritional standards and quality of mid-day meals; the latter
being given due importance this time around.
Mid-day Meals Quality Guidelines
As far as the nutritional standards are concerned, it is stipulated that mid-
day meals should provide 450 calories and 12 g protein for primary students
and 700 calories and 20 g protein for upper primary students. The
implementing bodies, i.e., government schools, partnering non-profit
organisations, etc., have to plan the menu accordingly. They can rotate the
food items, or vegetables that are used in preparation of these food items,
on a daily basis to ensure that the children get necessary nutrients in
prescribed quantity.
Now, the personnel from an accredited lab can evaluate hot cooked meal
samples as and when deemed necessary to ensure its nutritional value and
quality.
These new guidelines bring about a much-needed change to the ambitious
scheme. The quality of meal served to children deserves more attention,
considering that the number of beneficiaries of this programme runs to the
tune of over 100 million. Thus, not taking the quality aspect seriously will
mean putting millions of children at risk and any untoward incident will affect
the whole programme. The authorities need to ensure that such incidents do
not occur; implementing stringent quality check regulations is one way to do
this.
The notification makes it mandatory for every school to have a facility for
storing raw materials and cooking meals without compromising on the
hygiene. Additionally, it’s important that the cooking staff maintains personal
hygiene and wears gloves, masks, caps, etc., while cooking in order to avoid
contamination. Also, there should be a proper arrangement of clean water
and a waste disposal site in the vicinity.
The notification of new rules is a crucial step that will help in improving the
quality of Mid-day Meal Programme. When a programme is being run at such
a grand scale, it has to be constantly evaluated to minimize problems and
make it more effective. One of the non-profit organisations, the Akshaya

3. The Akshaya Patra Foundation
Patra Foundation’s handling of Mid-day Meal Programme is an apt example
of the same.
How Akshaya Patra is Showing the Way?
The Akshaya Patra Foundation started serving meals to children in 2001—
well before MDMS in its current form came into existence—and joined the
Government to implement this programme when it was started. At the
Foundation, elaborate measures are taken to ensure that the quality of food
served as a part of the Mid-day Meal Programme in schools is up to the
mark.
The Food Safety Management System (FSMS) is implemented in Akshaya
Patra kitchens and the entire staff is trained in this aspect. Even in the
decentralized kitchens in Baran, Rajasthan, and Nayagarh, Odisha, where
women self-help groups cook mid-day meals, due importance is given to
quality. The staff at these kitchens is trained and monitored by a team
appointed by the Foundation.

4. The Akshaya Patra Foundation
In fact, Akshaya Patra’s expertise on this aspect has even prompted several
State Governments to ask the organisation to organise workshops on food
safety, quality, and personal hygiene for cook-cum-helpers in their states.
Personal hygiene is also given utmost importance at Akshaya Patra kitchens.
Both, kitchen staff and visitors are provided caps, masks, gloves, and
disinfectant to avoid contamination of food. The raw materials that are to be
procured are done only after taking food safety standards into consideration
and are accepted only after thorough inspection. Vegetables are sanitized in
chlorine water before they are cut and vessels are sanitized with hot water
before the cooking process begins.
Even the menu is based on regional palate, keeping in mind recommended
nutritional standards. Thus, the kitchens in the North follow a wheat-based
menu, while those in the South follow a rice-based menu. In order to ensure
that the nutritional standards are met, a variety of vegetables (E.g.,
beetroot, carrots, pumpkins, brinjals, etc.) and pulses (E.g., lentils,
soybeans, kidney beans, etc.) are used and the cooked food is subjected to
Theoretical Nutritional Value Calculation as per the National Institute of
Nutrition (NIN) and lab analysis.

5. The Akshaya Patra Foundation
Food is packed in steam-sterilized vessels and dispatched only after its taste
and texture are checked. Before loading the food in delivery vehicles, their
cleanliness is also checked. Even school authorities are advised to check
whether the food vessels are clean, covered tightly with a lid, food is warm,
etc.
The adoption of global quality practices, such as Kaizen and Six Sigma, has
helped the Foundation improve the efficiency of the entire process, thus
ensuring that they reach out to over 1.5 million children with nutritious
meal.
A lot goes into ensuring the quality of mid-day meals; right from careful
selection of menu to proper hygiene. Having said that, all these efforts are
worth taking because the mid-day meal is at times, the only meal many of
these children afford. In a country, where malnutrition is a chronic problem,
the mid-day meal comes as a blessing in disguise.
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