HRD Minister Lokesh warns of strict action if quality of mid-day meal is compromised

Minister for Human Resources Development Nara Lokesh has warned of strict action against any attempt to compromise on the quality of food served under the Dokka Seethamma Mid-Day Meal scheme in government-run schools.

Mr. Lokesh conducted a review with senior officials of the Education Department over the phone following an incident reported in a school at Mylavaram in NTR district.

Mr. Lokesh said strict action would be taken if taste, hygiene, quality, or nutritional value of the food served to the students in government schools was compromised in any way. Emphasising that children deserved quality food in schools, he reiterated that any negligence in the mid-day meal scheme would not be tolerated.

Officials informed him that John, the headmaster of the Mandal Parishad Adarsha Primary School at Taraka Ramanagar, had allegedly misled the students and staged a drama claiming that the mid-day meal was of poor quality before circulating it on the social media to create negative publicity about the scheme.

According to a preliminary inquiry, this was a deliberate act aimed at spreading misinformation, the officials told the Minister.

Mr. Lokesh instructed the officials to effectively counter such conspiracies. He said, just as parents take great care about the food served to their children, greater care must be taken in preparing meals for students in government schools. “Once food is prepared, a teacher must taste and check the quality every day before it is served to the students,” Mr. Lokesh said.

To bring systemic improvements, the Minister ordered the officials to set up a centralised kitchen system on a war-footing and suggested that the MLAs should visit one school every week in their constituency and share the mid-day meal with the students so that they could personally assess the quality and identify any shortcomings.

Parents could also share complaints and feedback regarding the food quality through the LEAP app, the Minister said, and directed the officials to take strict action against anyone who deliberately spreads false propaganda about the scheme for personal or political gain.