From Verka to Markfed, how anganwadi food for pregnant women and children has witnessed a 360 degree change in Punjab

While Verka, popularly known as MILKFED, used to prepare most of its products, Markfed procures everything from private companies.

Cooperatives supply the rations to the state Department of Social Security And Women & Child Development, which distributes them among the anganwadi centres.

“When there was no issue in the quality of food products supplied and people were happy with the panjiri of Verka, I wonder why the contract was given to Markfed, which is procuring the ration packets from private companies. This is a way to hurt your own cooperative-sector Verka. Moreover the beneficiaries do not like the products being supplied now,” Hargobind Kaur, president of the Punjab Anganwadi Workers Association, told The Indian Express.

What used to be supplied earlier

Verka used to supply panjiri of roasted wheat flour and besan, cooked with sugar and desi ghee, for which the cooperative even had installed five plants in Sangrur, Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar and Gurdaspur. This panjiri used to come in packs of 1 kg. Verka also used to provide rice, vanaspati, milk powder, sugar and wheat in sacks.

Wheat used to be roasted at anganwadi centres and broken into dalia, while rice would be used to prepare kheer using milk powder and sugar. Vegetable pulav also used to be made.

“There used to be days fixed for specific foods. One day for sweet dalia, another for kheer, pulav and panjiri. Pregnant women are given a diet from pregnancy till six months after delivery. Afterwards the diet is given to their children till 72 months… From the age of three to six, the children get the rations only if they are enrolled in the centres,” added Kaur.

What is supplied now

Since April 2023, panjiri prepared with wheat, bajra, defatted soybean flour and milk powder has been provided to women and children. Sugar is added to it and the dish is cooked in refined soybean oil. The idea behind using bajra is to add nutritious millets to the diet, but most beneficiaries do not like their taste. “In Punjab people use milk and milk products and, whether rich or poor, they give lactating mothers and children panjiri made of desi ghee. So people are rejecting the millet-based panjiri cooked in refined oil. Feedback has been provided to the social security department multiple times but in vain,” said a Faridkot-based anganwadi worker.

Pre-mix dalia (salty), dalia (sweet) and khichdi packs having oil, salt or sugar, double-fortified sattva, powder milk, wheat, rice, chana dal are being given to beneficiaries. These have to be cooked without washing. Soya granules are being provided in loose packets.

However, a Markfed official denied knowledge of any negative feedback. “We provide the supplies as per the recommendations of the social security department. From time to time, samples are checked. They have always passed tests. If end users do not like anything, we should be informed of it. We can suggest changes within the given budget, but we have never got any such feedback from the social security department,” the official said on the condition of anonymity.

Verka

When contacted, Verka officials confirmed the contract was taken away from the cooperative in April last year. An official told The Indian Express, “The social security department can reveal why it hired Markfed. We can’t comment on it. However, our panjiri was very popular among the women and children.”

Anganwadi workers

Anganwadi workers have been submitting memorandums to the social security department for the past one year. They have also complained that beneficiaries do not like the panjiri and pre-mix food packets.

In 2005, the then Congress government outsourced the supply of anganwadi rations but had to reverse the decision after workers protested.

Jaswant Kaur, an anganwadi worker, said that chana dal and dalia, included in the pre-mix salty dalia, do not get cooked at the same time.

There are around 54,000 anganwadi workers and around 18 lakh beneficiaries in Punjab. In the districts of Ferozepur, Fazilka and Hoshiarpur, dry rations have been supplied through NGOs since October 2021, when the Covid lockdown was in place. These districts still do not fall under the purview of the present suppliers.

What the minister has to say

When contacted, Social Security Minister Baljit Kaur told The Indian Express, “Markfed is handling the entire food distribution work. The expense per child and woman is around Rs 10 a day, which is very little. But we are trying to provide the maximum we can within that budget.”

“We even asked the Centre to increase the budget. We have introduced millets in some of the items and even millet flour is used in panjiri. But in Punjab, people are used to eating wheat-based foods. So we have sought feedback and we will resolve this issue. Refined oil is not used in panjiri. It is a dry-roasted panjiri,” the minister added.

The minister said the department had got feedback to add desi ghee and was trying to make necessary changes. “So far, only anganwadi workers have given us this feedback. However, the food quality is up to the mark. Suggestions are being looked into,” she added.

However, the minister could not explain why refined soybean oil has been mentioned as an ingredient on the panjiri packet.

Pregnant and lactating women are given a diet from the start of pregnancy till their baby is six months old. The per-day cost is Rs 9.5 for a pregnant or lactating woman. From six months to 72 months, the cost per child is Rs 8 and Rs 12 for severely malnourished children of the same age group. Up to three years, children are provided the food at their houses or the women come to the anganwadi centres, but children older than three and up to six are given the foods at the centres.