Mid-day meal contract for khichdi boils over in Pimpri-Chinchwad

suchandra · April 2, 2007

Mid-day meal contract for khichdi boils over in Pimpri-Chinchwad

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=229483

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="467"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td colspan="3">PCMC education board gives it to ISKCON, self-help groups say they have been robbed of livelihood </td></tr> <tr valign="top"><td colspan="3" height="10">

</td></tr><tr valign="top"><td colspan="3">Manoj More</td></tr> <tr valign="top"><td colspan="3" height="10">

</td></tr><tr valign="top"> <td colspan="3"> Pune, April 1: The mid-day meal scheme in the primary schools run by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has run into a controversy over who will cook and supply the khichdi that is served to nearly 43,000 students studying in classes I to IV.

Four months ago, the civic body’s education board decided to hand over the preparation and distribution of the food from mid-April to the Pimpri-Chinchwad branch of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). The move has upset several women’s self-help groups that prepare the meal. They say it is “an attempt to take away their livelihood.”

Nearly 600 women are involved in making and supplying the meal to over 100 civic schools in Pimpri-Chinchwad. The khichdi is served to students in the school premises as per the State government’s directive to provide them a nutritious meal. The Rs 1.75 crore for the scheme is what the PCMC gets from the State government.

Education board chairman Ulhas Shetty said even though he is under “tremendous pressure” from a section of politicians and corporators to cancel the agreement with ISKCON and let the self-help groups do the job, the PCMC general body has decided not to renew the khichdi contract to self-help groups.

“So far, the self-help groups have been providing khichdi to the students. Almost all of them are run by corporators...the groups are fronts used by politicians to gobble up PCMC money. Many corporators have set up self-help groups to get such deals from the PCMC.”

Moreover, said Shetty, these self-help groups almost never provide nutritious meals which is the basic requirement as per the government norm. “Many a times the khichdi is of poor quality and students and teachers often complain.”

He also added that the education board has found that the meal was not supplied on several occasions, yet bills were claimed. “We are not going to let the scheme run aground. The resolution for handing over the khichdi contract to ISKCON was approved by the general body four months ago. The municipal commissioner has also given his nod,” he claimed.

Now, 45 self-help groups, which make the khichdi, are threatening to stage dharnas. Their argument: The business is a source of livelihood to women from poor families. Corporator Sulbha Ubale, who runs the Yamunanagar self-help group, says seven members cook the meal everyday and supply it to two civic schools. “Each gets Rs 3,000-4,000 every month. The money keeps their homes going.”

She said the meals were of good quality. “There were no problems all these years. Every time the meal is served, it is tasted by the teachers before being served to children. If there is a complaint, women have always taken it seriously and immediately taken steps to improve its quality,” she added.

The criterion to give the contract to ISKCON has raised eyebrows. Ubale says the government’s directives say it should be given only to poor and widowed women. “ISKCON is a religious organisation,” she said.

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rajag · April 2, 2007

It is sad if any one has been robbed off his or her livelyhood.Is ISKcON or PCMC aware of this?

suchandra · April 2, 2007

It is sad if any one has been robbed off his or her livelyhood.Is ISKcON or PCMC aware of this?

Looks like they are only interested in one thing, to get the best quality of meals for the best price to all the 43,000 students every day without fail.

My daughter also took lunch at her school and when she complained about bad meals it is quite natural that people in charge are only interested to give that job to those who prepare the best food for the kids.

April 4, 2007

Also, it's important to provide 'prasadam' and not just food. So I'm happy to see that ISKCON has taken over. At the same time, it's sad to see that those people cooking the food lost their jobs. It's a tough choice.

By the way prabhu, your location says Europe. And you said your daughter is served lunch at school. Do they server free meals in Europe schools?

Looks like they are only interested in one thing, to get the best quality of meals for the best price to all the 43,000 students every day without fail.
My daughter also took lunch at her school and when she complained about bad meals it is quite natural that people in charge are only interested to give that job to those who prepare the best food for the kids.