State leads in ‘Tithi Bhojan’ with over 146,000 students covered
KOLKATA: Bengal has been among the frontrunners in the country when it comes to implementation of ‘Tithi Bhojan’ programme having covered 146,007 students in 1,089 schools across the state till mid August. The programme had kicked off on April 15 to commemorate the occasion of Poila Baisakh (Bengali New Year’s Day) and on that very day ‘Tithi Bhojan’ took place in 32,368 schools with 3,803,172 students relishing the
sumptuous food.
According to the state Education department, the ‘Tithi Bhojan’ programme has covered schools in 13 districts, including the GTA area. East Midnapore leads with 10,787 students in 831 schools, the highest in the state, while East Burdwan is second with 10,496 students in 81 schools. On the launch day (April 15), Murshidabad recorded the most beneficiaries with 5,564 schools and 762,677 students. East Midnapore, with the highest number of schools - 5,605 - had 541,449 students participating, though fewer than Murshidabad. Schools in Bankura, Hooghly, Kalimpong, Nadia, West Burdwan, East Midnapore, GTA, Howrah, Malda, Murshidabad, Malda, East Burdwan, Siliguri, and North Dinajpur have witnessed
‘Tithi Bhojan’.
“We are hopeful that with the overwhelming response, those districts which have not yet hosted ‘Tithi Bhojan’ will catch up soon,” said a senior official of the state School Education department.
‘Tithi Bhojan’ is a community participation programme where food is provided to school students on special occasions such as festivals, anniversaries, birthdays, marriages, and days of national importance etc. Members of the community provide nutritious and healthy food to the children as an additional food item or full meal on such special occasions/festivals.
This is completely voluntary and the people in the community contribute either a full meal or contribute food items in the form of sweets, ‘namkeens,’ fruits, or sprouts etc. as an additional item. ‘Tithi Bhojan’ is not a substitute to Mid-Day Meal and supplements or complements Mid-Day Meal.
The Centre has its guidelines on ‘Tithi Bhojan’ which is being followed during implementation.
