BMC education committee members question quality of rice used in school mid-day meals

Members of the education committee of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have questioned the quality of the raw rice used for the mid-day meals served to children in civic schools. Headmasters had earlier expressed concern about the quality of the khichdi given to children, but the members claimed the real problem begins with the grain itself.

Leader of the Opposition Kishori Pednekar also raised the issue. She said there were several problems, ranging from the quality of grain used for school meals to alleged irregularities in its supply chain. "The rice used to make khichdi has broken grains and other waste," Pednekar alleged. She demanded that the rice be tested in a laboratory and that the civic body look into the matter.

Corporators made further allegations about the meals. They said the food is not properly cooked and does not taste good, vegetables remain undercooked, hair is found in the food, and there are cases of stones being found in cooked rice. Such complaints of stones and hair in the food point to persistent lapses in quality control over meals in civic schools.

The discussion also stressed alleged lapses in the grain supply chain. Priyank Raut, a Shiv Sena (UBT) member of the education committee, first raised the issue on Monday. "We hear that headmasters repeatedly complain that the khichdi given to children is of poor quality. Now we have learnt that the problem lies in the grain itself," he said.

Raut also presented details of some FIRs filed earlier. In these, truck drivers had been arrested on the allegation of selling mid-day meal grain elsewhere. He also noted that the NGOs preparing the khichdi had allegedly been supplied substandard grain.

A headmaster of a civic school also confirmed such problems. "It is true that schools face problems with the quality of khichdi. We often found inedible grains in our khichdi. But we changed the organisation that prepares our mid-day meals, and the problem has now been resolved," the headmaster said.

A civic official said an inquiry into the issue raised is under way and a report is being prepared, after which necessary action will be taken. "Until then, all SOPs for the mid-day meal scheme are being followed," the official said.