Punjab govt schools ordered to use powdered milk in mid-day meal

The milk powder will cost Rs 273 per kilogram; this amount will be paid to MILKFED from the ration amount they are granted for mid-day meals.

MILKFED will supply 10-kg powder milk cans to schools with 150 children or above.

The Punjab education department has directed all government schools to use powdered milk (dry milk) to prepare kheer, which is served once a week as part of the mid-day meal menu to children. The powdered milk will be supplied to schools by government-run cooperative MILKFED (which runs VERKA milk plants across the state).

As per the notification issued, schools are required to use seven grams of milk powder per child for making kheer. The milk powder will cost Rs 273 per kilogram; this amount will be paid to MILKFED from the ration amount they are granted for mid-day meals. Besides increasing the sale of milk powder, sources said, this step by the government has been taken to ensure children consume kheer prepared from “quality-tested” milk as earlier, schools purchased milk from local dairies and other shops which do not undergo a quality check.

Also, with adulterated milk widely being sold across Punjab, one needs to ensure children are not made to consume the same.

The order, however, clarifies that MILKFED will supply 10-kg powder milk cans to schools with 150 children or above. In other words, government schools with less than 150 children (mostly primary and in far-flung villages) will have to arrange the item on their own.

Welcoming the government’s decision, Amarjit Singh, a government school teacher from Mansa said, “Some schools are already using powder milk as it is easier to handle and store. Also, it tastes better and children prefer powdered milk in the food they consume.”

Another teacher from Ludhiana, Dharamjit Singh said, “There is not going to much of a cost difference as a kilogram of powdered milk can be used by several students when compared to liquid milk. Also, it is easier to store powdered milk.”

Punjab State Education (elementary) Director Inderjit Singh, “We have taken this decision as MILKFED agreed to supply powdered milk to our schools. The quality of milk had become a cause of worry as adulterated milk is openly sold in the market. The powdered milk by MILKFED passes through several checks.”

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Singh added, “The only concern might be cases of theft. Some people can try and steal to take the milk powder home. We need to look for a solution for this soon.”

Divya Goyal

Divya Goyal is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, based in Punjab. Her interest lies in exploring both news and feature stories, with an effort to reflect human interest at the heart of each piece. She writes on gender issues, education, politics, Sikh diaspora, heritage, the Partition among other subjects. She has also extensively covered issues of minority communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She also explores the legacy of India's partition and distinct stories from both West and East Punjab. She is a gold medalist from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), Delhi, the most revered government institute for media studies in India, from where she pursued English Journalism (Print). Her research work on “Role of micro-blogging platform Twitter in content generation in newspapers” had won accolades at IIMC. She had started her career in print journalism with Hindustan Times before switching to The Indian Express in 2012. Her investigative report in 2019 on gender disparity while treating women drug addicts in Punjab won her the Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity in 2020. She won another Laadli for her ground report on the struggle of two girls who ride a boat to reach their school in the border village of Punjab. ... Read More

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