Sunderbans: Spl meals to be served in 97 schools on Children’s Day

Kolkata: To celebrate Children’s Day, special meals will be provided to over 11,000 students in 97 schools across the Sunderbans region on Thursday, under ‘Tithi Bhojan’ programme. The initiative, spearheaded by the Project Directorate of the state PM POSHAN (formerly the Mid-Day Meal Scheme), will bring festive meals to children in remote areas of the Sunderbans.

The special menu for the day will include fried rice, chicken, sweets and fruits. “We are serving special meals to over 11,000 students in the islands and remote blocks of the Sundarbans to mark Children’s Day,” said Paromita Roy, Project Director of the state PM Poshan. “We will also go there to engage with the students during the event.” The ‘Tithi Bhojan’ programme, which was launched in the state on Bengali New Year (Poila Baisakh), has since grown to become a popular initiative. For Thursday’s event, schools from Gosaba, Namkhana and Patharpratima blocks of South 24-Parganas and Sandeshkhali, Hasnabad and Hingalganj blocks in North 24-Parganas were selected. In total, 5,246 students from North 24-Parganas and 5,764 students from South 24-Parganas will be served with the special meals.

The initiative is being supported by Punjab National Bank (PNB), the State Nodal Bank for the PM POSHAN programme, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. PNB has sponsored the event with a budget of approximately Rs 3.3 lakh, allotting Rs 30 per student. This marks the first time a bank has sponsored the Tithi Bhojan programme. “We approached PNB and they agreed to sponsor the special meals,” Roy added.

In addition to the special meals, the event will feature quiz and essay competitions on topics such as health, hygiene, nutrition and the significance of Children’s Day.

Senior officials from the state directorate, district administration and PNB will also attend the event in Gosaba, where they will interact with the students.