G Udayagiri: With monsoon round the corner, the mid-day meal programme is likely to be affected in 41 schools of G Udayagiri block of Kandhamal district as they don’t have kitchens.
Sources said, though the people have been complaining about the absence of kitchens in the schools for years, the officers concerned have turned a blind eye to their pleas.
Locals alleged government efforts to improve the nutritional levels of school meals are being undermined by lack of proper kitchen facilities in the block, depriving pupils of a hot lunch.
The cooks of these schools said they are facing various problems while cooking during monsoon. When G. Udayagiri ABO Laxmikant Mishra asked about this, he said, out of 104 schools in the block, mid –day meal is given to students in 99 schools. Forty-one of them have no kitchen on their premises. But the construction of the kitchens is going on in some of these schools. The ABO said “we will take steps to construct kitchens in other schools soon.”