Midday meal suppliers demand revision of rates

NOIDA: Twelve suppliers of midday meals to the city’s government-run schools have asked a revision of the basic rates allocated for preparation and distribution of cooked meals.
The ongoing rate for supplying a meal is Rs 4.13 per student per day for primary and Rs 6.18 per child per day for upper-primary level students. The NGOs, supplying food at given rates, held a meeting on October 9 after which they decided to send a proposal for rate revision to central and state governments.

Midday meals in Gautam Budh Nagar is sent to 743 primary and upper-primary schools and caters to 92,000 students. According to the government guidelines, staples like wheat and rice are supplied to primary level schools at 100 gram per student, to upper-primary and junior school students at 150gm per student. The NGOs engaged in supplying cooked food to the schools are given a fee for conversion. The NGOs now claim the amount no longer covers their expenses. “If you consider all the overheads of cooking the food and then delivering it to the schools, the money we get supports nothing. Expenses have shot up. We often take help of external charity to keep our work going,” said a midday meal supplier from Dadri.

The rate of midday meals is fixed across the country. “When tenders are drawn for selection of the suppliers, even at that time the NGOs are aware of the rate at which they have to fulfil the job. Why are they complaining if they have agreed on papers to comply with the rates?” said an officer from UP midday meal department in Lucknow.