Meal mutiny over khichdi overdose
Taste buds in Mumbai’s state-run primary schools are wilting at khichdi, the most common midday meal served.
So bored are the kids with the fare that some hide at lunchtime, some offer excuses not to eat and others toss out the food when they are out of their teachers’ gaze. A few lump it down but more out of fear of being pulled up.
The dal-rice combination, easy to cook and known to be highly nutritious, is being served in BMC schools since 2005, when Iskcon bagged the catering contract after quality concerns pushed the previous supplier out. The meal scheme has been in force since December 2002.
Some have argued that a menu change for over 4 lakh students in such schools is long overdue, though a new item would have to be officially approved.
“The taste is same, whether they add groundnuts, moong dal or peas,” says Ravindra Waikar, chairman of the panel on BMC schools.
He has suggested idlis and dosas, also made from rice and dal, as more palatable alternatives.
Quotas for mothers-to-be
The Delhi government appears to have “delivered” where it matters.
The cabinet this week proposed reserving beds in government hospitals for expectant mothers. Funds for the plan, which aims to provide quality pre-natal care, will be given to 32 maternity centres run by the civic authorities.
“The target is to ensure 100 per cent institutional births in Delhi,” chief minister Sheila Dikshit said, implying she wants all babies to be born under hospital care.
A policy to ensure beds are set aside in all city hospitals, including private ones, will be crafted. Dikshit said it was difficult to provide quality health services to newborns and mothers because maternity care facilities weren't adequate. To start with, hundred of the 200 beds at Kokiwala Bagh Hospital will be reserved.
Scion blitz hits town
The DMK succession race isn’t over yet, though party patriarch M. Karunanidhi appears to have made his choice.
Supporters of his elder son, M.K. Azhagiri, virtually plastered Madurai, his base, with posters of their leader ahead of his 57th birthday last month.
The blitz was launched despite the DMK chief’s declaration at the party’s youth conference in Tirunelveli recently that he would pass the baton to younger son and minister M.K. Stalin.
A Twenty20-style cricket clash, named the Rising Sun tournament, was also organised to mark his birthday.
Some hoardings spoke of Azhagiri as the “next occupant of Fort St George” (the seat of power in Chennai).
The brouhaha might have embarrassed the chief minister but Azhagiri’s foot soldiers couldn’t have bothered.
The DMK scion has not demanded any post in the party so far, though his ambitions for the top post aren’t a secret.
River watch
The Centre has proposed setting up an expert group to address fears of environment hazards from the construction blitz for the Commonwealth Games along the Yamuna.
Solicitor-general G.E. Vahanvati floated the idea before Delhi High Court, saying R.K. Pachauri, who heads the UN panel on climate change, could head the panel that will monitor the structures and submit reports.
he judges have asked the Centre to specify if it will sell the flats being constructed for athletes after the 2010 Games.
Delhi: Bengal is the theme of this year’s Surajkund Mela. Sixty-one craftsmen from the state are offering jute products, brass goods, masks, puppets, saris and a host of handicraft delights. Folk artistes from the state will perform chaau, brita and gambhira.
Time: 9.30pm to dusk.
