Bhubaneswar, Nov. 14: Eggs in midday meals are drawing more students to schools in Odisha, said state nodal officer for midday meal scheme Gangadhar Sahoo here today.
"The attendance in schools, which is generally 85 to 87 per cent on normal days, goes up to 97 per cent on Wednesdays and Saturdays when the midday meal menu includes egg," Sahoo told newspersons on the sidelines of Surabhi, a three-day children's festival hosted by the state school and mass education department that kicked off today.
The government has included eggs in the midday meal menu due to its high nutritional value. Moreover, the chances of adulteration are rare in eggs. But the limited shelf life of eggs means the school management committees have to locally procure them," he said.
The department is now planning to launch a multi-micronutrient fortification programme in association with the World Food Organisation and the Akshaya Patra Foundation from December.
The fortification programme would be first introduced at the central kitchen on the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack road on a pilot basis. The move is aimed to reduce anaemia among children. A World Food Programme survey found that anaemia levels in children consuming fortified rice went down considerably.
"It was found that intake of several vitamins and minerals can be insufficient to meet a child's requirements, thus increasing the risk of anaemia and other micronutrient deficiencies. Micronutrient fortified rice would contain the required vitamins and minerals to increase the micronutrient content of a child's diet without changing their usual dietary habits," Sahoo said.
The department also plans to introduce vegetarian pulao and sweet dal on one of the weekdays besides kheer.
"But we haven't worked it out yet. We are working out the financial implications of introducing these dishes," a senior official of the department said.
Surabhi festival
The Surabhi festival began with a cycle rally from the forest park to Unit IX Boys' High School - the event's venue.
The theme of the three-day festival is "Amey Sabbu Eka" (We are all equal) and features a number of events such as essay and slogan writing, song, dance and skits based on a variety of themes, including elimination of classroom hunger, nutritional requirement, importance of washing hands and community participation.
More than 3,000 students from various parts of the state are taking part in the festival.
Anjali carnival
The Anjali Children's Festival 2015 kicked off in the city today amid much fanfare. Around 500 children, both able and differently-abled from various parts of the country, took out a procession, donning colourful costumes, crowns and masks as the sound of trumpets and drumbeats echoed in the background.
Traditional and folk artistes from across the state added colour to the parade. Children dressed in various attires, masks and feathers held aloft banners as they marched from Ram Mandir Square to the Adivasi Ground, where the four-day festival is being held.
Anjali's chief co-ordinator Sruti Mohapatra said the aim of the festival was to eliminate differences between differently-abled children and others.
