Millets and sprouts likely on Karnataka midday meal menu in this academic year

According to a proposal reviewed by indianexpress.com, the state government has requested from the Centre 11,256 metric tonnes of millets for the 59 lakh students of government and government-aided schools. Of this, 7734 metric tonnes are for primary students.

“The proposal was sent to the Centre in March this year, but we haven’t heard from them for the last three months. The Centre has always insisted on including millets to increase the nutritional value and marking 2023 as the international year of millets. However, there is no response to the proposal,” said a state government official.

In a letter reviewed by indianexpress.com, the Centre had also suggested the inclusion of mushrooms and honey in midday meals. “The Centre gives its recommendations on including more items as part of midday meals. However, there is no framework on how to procure the products. The Centre has to give clear directions on how the resources will be allocated and for how many days these food items should be given,” said the official.

There have been talks in the school education department about introducing sprouts in the state. The introduction of sprouts is aimed at fighting anaemia and malnutrition. While the government is looking at preparing sprouts in the form of salads in south Karnataka, it is planning to add sprouts in sambar in north Karnataka.

“Milk is not entirely protein. So we want to introduce sprouts, which are high in protein and can help fight anaemia and malnutrition among children. We still have to work out the cost of introducing sprouts because we have to procure them in the open market at competitive prices,” said a government official.

To accommodate sprouts and millets, the government is planning to reduce the number of days when rice and wheat are served. “We are looking at balancing rice/wheat and millets/sprouts equally. When we are serving millets/sprouts, we cannot give rice/wheat and vice versa,” a government official said.

The school education department has also requested the state government to extend the distribution of eggs to 80 days a year from the current 46 days. There is also a proposal to extend the eggs scheme to classes 9 and 10.