According to a report in The Hindu, ministry officials said 35 complaints of substandard food distribution in schools had been received from 15 Indian states and centrally-administered Union Territories and were currently being probed.
One of the officials, speaking to the daily on condition of anonymity, said 930 children had taken ill since 2016, after eating contaminated food, but none had died.
One Netizen said the serving of midday meals to school children should be stopped because of the prevailing corruption in the system.
Midday meal should be stopped.
— RSM 45 (@RsMishr9) July 15, 2019
10am to 4pm classes to be resumed !
Send money directly to guardian's of BPL.if provision continued!
Food served::quality 0000 &unhealthy!
Corruption &misuse of money 👹
🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴https://t.co/ACSLjhxAH5
The HRD official said that while the midday meal scheme falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of School Education and Literacy in the HRD Ministry, it is the responsibility of state governments to provide cooked and nutritious meals to eligible school children.
While issuing guidelines on quality, safety and hygiene in school kitchens, the HRD Ministry has asked state governments in places with instances of midday meal contamination to furnish Action-Taken Reports (ATRs) following the events.
As per the ATRs received from some of the states by the ministry so far, the officials responsible for those incidents have received warnings, the contracts of NGOs and other organisations involved have been terminated and criminal proceedings initiated with penalties imposed on those found to be at fault.
As per HRD Ministry guidelines, only AGMARK (certification system for food products in India that conforms to standards upheld by the Directorate of Marketing) approved items are to be used for preparing midday meals.
The ministry also insists that all meals have to be taste-tested by two or three adult members of the school management committee, including at least one teacher, before being served to children.
