By IANS,
Lucknow : The Uttar Pradesh government will now give a regional taste to the lunch provided to students under the mid-day meal (MDM) scheme sponsored by the central government, officials said.
For this, the state would be divided into four regions – east, west, central and Bundelkhand – and the students there will be provided with delicacies of their respective region, they added.
“As per the new menu of MDM, Bati Chokha, Rajma, Kheer and other delicacies will be offered to the students taking regional taste into account,” a senior official associated with MDM told IANS.
“Initially, we have to introduce this as a pilot project,” Basic Shiksha Adhikari Lucknow Rakesh Kumar said. The pilot project will be launched next month.
“Depending upon the acceptance of the new scheme amongst the students, we would go ahead. The feedback from the students will also be sent to the central government,” he added.
At present Khichri and Tehri (a dish made from rice and vegetable) are provided under MDM, officials said.
In Uttar Pradesh, MDM covers about 150,000 schools, under which lunch is provided to students till class 8, they added.