Jharkhand is on its way to introduce a legislation which would give the poor in the state the right to food. Jharkhand chief minister Arjun Munda announced this here today at the inauguration of the state?s first centralised mid-day meal kitchen, a collaborative public private partnership (PPP) project of the Jharkhand government, Tata Steel and Iskcon Food Relief Foundation (IFRF). He said, ?While the Union government is discussing its draft right to food act, we want to introduce in the state a new right to food act; the government has already drafted one, which aims to see that no person in the state goes hungry?.
Jharkhand?s poverty indices are among the worst in the country.
?We are working with some organisations who are helping the state in introducing a right to food act?, said Munda, adding that keeping in mind the way prices had already risen and the way the poor were being burdened ceaselessly, the state decided of introducing the act.
Speaking on the occasion, IFRF director Venu Madhav Das said that with IFRF?s 27th kitchen becoming operational in the country, the organisation would now be feeding 1.2 million school children, and they intend to take to five million by 2020.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) for running the kitchen on a PPP model was also signed today between the district education officers of east Singhbhum, Seraikela-Kharswan districts and IFRF.
According to D K Saxena, Jharkhand director, primary education, the state?s first centralised kitchen inaugurated today would, from April 9, initially cater to around 65,000 school children, and later up to one lakh, representing 302 and 82 government-run and aided schools of east Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharswan districts, respectively.
Saxena said the state?s mid-day meal programme, where food was mainly being cooked at the premises of respective schools, was benefiting around 50 lakh students of around 40,000 government-run schools, every day. ?The programme has been successful in attracting children to schools?, said the director. Tata Steel has funded the project by providing R4 crore for putting up the kitchen and delivery infrastructure IFRF would be needing, apart from handing over 1.25 acres of land for the project.
IFRF would, as it has been doing at its other 26 centres around the country, run the kitchen to deliver quality, nutritious and hygienic food in tamper-proof containers to around one lakh school children and would in the process be charging the government R3 per child per day for each meal, which as per Supreme Court?s guidelines has to contain a minimum of 450 kilo-calories of energy.