Unhappy with the performance of women self-help groups, the BMC has now decided to handover the charge of the mid-day meal scheme for civic students to International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon).
“We have had several complaints about women’s groups failing to provide quality food to students. Taking note
of this, we have decided to handover the task to Iskcon, which is known for preparing excellent nutritious
food,” said standing committee chairman Rahul Shewale.
The civic body has often been criticised for providing bland food in the mid-day meal scheme. There were instances of worms being found in khichdi distributed to students of civic schools, raising concerns about the quality of food served under the scheme.
In 2008, the BMC’s decision to allot contracts for the midday meal scheme in civic-run schools to Iskcon was turned down by the Bombay high court. Terming the decision as discriminative, the HC had asked it to reopen the tender process, giving the opportunity to women’s self-help groups to bag the contracts.
“However, the health of students is of utmost priority to us. We cannot compromise on it and hence Iskcon was selected,” said BJP group leader Dilip Patel.
Iskcon has asked the civic body to provide plot of 10,000 sq. ft. to establish their centre for preparing food, which includes industrial kitchen, place for bulk cooking, high-tech grain-sorting machines etc. “Two places in the suburbs have been earmarked for this. They have also assured us to transport food to civic schools on their own,” Mr Shewale said.
The BMC spends around Rs 3,000 a year per student under the midday meal scheme. The corporation supplies khichdi to about 4.5 lakh students studying in its 1,100 schools.