HC issues notice to Punjab over outsourcing of mid-day meals

Arguing before the bench, Bains submitted that since 2004, Punjab had followed a decentralised model for preparing and distributing take-home rations and mid-day meals through government cooperatives like Verka, which had the necessary production facilities. However, in 2022, the state floated fresh tenders and awarded contracts to four private companies, some of which allegedly lacked the infrastructure to prepare nutritional food items like panjiri.

He cited Supreme Court judgments, including those in cases from Maharashtra, where similar outsourcing to large corporate houses was struck down for being contrary to the “spirit of the Food Security Act.” The apex court, he said, had emphasised that local women’s groups and self-help collectives were best suited to supply supplementary nutrition to children and mothers under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).

Bains told the court that the Punjab government’s decision had effectively excluded smaller local producers by imposing high turnover and capacity conditions in the tender, allowing only big players “close to political personalities” to qualify. “If an organisation has a turnover of Rs 35 crore, how can that be compared to a self-help group preparing kichdi or panjiri at the village level?” he argued, adding that the decentralised model had worked well until 2022, when the new contracts were introduced.

The bench directed the state counsel to seek instructions and file a reply before the next hearing, noting the petitioner’s allegations that outsourcing had led to quality lapses, including instances of fungal contamination in the supplied food.