The Karnataka government has revised the menu of anganwadi children and decided to provide supplementary nutritious food, some of which are millet-based. The new menu will contain items like ready-to-eat khichdi and millet laddu. The laddu will be in the place of groundnut chikki, while milk and eggs will continue to stay on the menu.
Earlier, children between 3 and 6 years were given groundnut chikki for breakfast with milk in the anganwadis and sambar-and-rice or dal khichdi for lunch, which was made from multiple raw material supplied.
The Department of Women and Child Development used to release funds for purchasing raw material like jaggery and groundnuts for preparation of chikki. It also paid for procuring groceries such as rice, pulses, sambar powder, tamarind, mustard, oil, sprouts, and so on, besides vegetables.
However, it was found in many anganwadis that the chikki was not being prepared properly. Therefore, most children didn’t eat them or reportedly fell sick. There were complaints about lunch preparation too.
This led the department to revise the menu. Now, while chikki will be replaced, for lunch only rice, vegetables, and pulses will be purchased, and other ingredients required for sambar will be given in the form of ready-to-mix powder. Sambar can be prepared cooking pulses and vegetables and adding the ready powders. The khichdi will be made from ready-to-eat mix.
Speaking to The Hindu, Laxmi Hebbalkar, Minister for Women and Child Development, said that quality issues had been noticed during random visits to anganwadis. “This is a pilot project implemented for three months across the State, then it will be continued, in case the response is positive,” she said.
