GANGTOK, Feb 22 � Sikkim Human Resource Development Department has been providing the mid-day meal to the students of primary and upper primary level since 2002.
Under the scheme, the mid-day meals have been served to 69,758 primary students and 22,992 upper primary students of schools.
A total of 762 government schools, 85 monastic schools, 12 Sanskrit Pathsala and six Education Guarantee School under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan have been covered under the scheme.
Addressing a press conference here yesterday, Director (School Education), CS Rao informed that the department is getting satisfactory results of this scheme in the State.
He said that the main idea of the scheme is to provide the required nutrition to the children and prevent malnutrition and at the same time to attract more children to the school to achieve the goal of universal elementary education.
He informed that meal worth Rs 3.05 per child is fixed for the primary students, while Rs 3.75 per child has been fixed for each upper primary student, in which 90 per cent of the fund comes from the Central Government share and rest 10 per cent is the State Government share.
The prescribed quantity of food is 100 gm to 159 gm of food grains, 20 gm to 30 gm of pulse, 50 gm to 75 gm of vegetables and 5 gm to 7.5 gm of oils and fats under the scheme.
The entire process is being looked after by the School Management Committee and the government has also fixed honorarium of Rs 1,000 to the cook, he informed.
