Karwar: Every day, hundreds of school children are served mid-day meals in government schools across Uttara Kannada district. But one may be apprehensive about the taste, quality, nutrition and quantity of food that is served to the children. To monitor the mid-day meals and record the related information in a transparent manner, Uttara Kannada zilla panchayat has taken the technology way.

A software developed by Karwar staff of National Informatics Centre is already being used on an experimental basis and may soon begin with real-time functioning. Information on all 2,291 schools coming under Karwar and Sirsi Educational Districts is being recorded and the people can access the information on the website of the zill panchayat CEO.

How does it work?

Informing about the use of technology in making mid-day meal scheme more systematic, Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Mohammad Roshan said that each day, one teacher from every school will act as the Mid-Day Meals Nodal Officer of their school. That teacher will record the quantity of the major ingredients used for cooking on that particular day like the rice. After the meals, the reaction of the students is recorded. Before noon, the data operator working in the Akshar Dasoha office will upload the information on the website. All the information will help in judging the quality of food served to the children.

Judging food taste

“Three scales--best, satisfactory and poor--have been provided in the feedback forms and children will have to mark one of the three after tasting the lunch. In case, the records show that the quality of food is not good, immediate steps would be taken to set it right,” M Roshan explained.

Facts and figures that will be recorded in the software are: The number of children who have had ‘Akshar Dasoha’ mid-day meals in the two education districts of Uttara Kannada district on that particular day, quality of food served, ingredients used, amount of ration left in the school and response of the students regarding the taste of the food.

According to officials, until now, only the teachers and staff of the respective school would have information about the number of students who have consumed the mid-day meals and its quality. The zilla panchayat and the Public Instruction Department officials would seek information only when needed. This meant that there were chances of information on mid-day meals getting distorted. The new software is meant to solve all these issues.