Fish added on mid-day meal plate

Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee government has fixed the menu of mid-day meal to be served in schools across the state. Fish has been added for the first time in the menu.

The state Education department has notified the district magistrates of all the districts instructing them to

strictly adhere to the menu

list prescribed by the department.

"We have formed a committee under the leadership of the district inspector of respective districts which will visit

the schools in the state and keep an eye whether the schools are sticking to the menu list as prescribed by our department. The team will communicate with senior officials of

the department through an existing whats app group and will also send feedback report time to time. State Education minister has given us clear instructions that no irregularity in mid day meal will be tolerated," a senior official of the state Education department said.

The move comes in the wake of recent allegations of boiled rice and salt being served for midday meals at Chinsurah Balika Bani Mandir school in Hooghly a few days.

According to the list, apart from regular rice and dal, the vegetarian menu should have aloo posto, soyabean curry and mixed vegetable (each item at least once in a week).

The menu for the non-vegetarian food, comprising either fish or egg curry, which should be provided twice in a

week among which fish should be preferably in the menu at least one day a week. Chatni should be in the menu twice in a week.

Y Ratnakara Rao, district magistrate Hooghly said: "We have decided to put the mid-day menu list through wall writing in all the schools in the district."

The district administration has provided a toll-free number for lodging complaints in case of any irregularity with mid-day meal.

The district administration has taken strong action and had suspended two teachers of the Chinsurah school for irregularities in mid-day.