Hyderabad: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday inaugurated an ISKCON mega kitchen in Kolkata that will prepare and supply mid-day meals to 44,000 students studying in 500 government and government aided schools across the city.
The facility, located in Taratala in south-west Kolkata, was inaugurated after the Chief Minister participated in a yajna. He also inspected the kitchen, joined the meal preparation process and flagged off electric vehicles that will distribute the food to schools.
ISKCON kitchen to expand services to 2.5 lakh students
Speaking at the inauguration, Adhikari said the project would initially cater to 44,000 students, with plans to expand coverage to 2.5 lakh students within the next three months.
He announced that the State government has increased the mid-day meal allocation to ₹10 per student per meal. In addition to the meals prepared by ISKCON, the government will continue supplying boiled eggs twice a week through self help groups (SHGs) to ensure balanced nutrition.
“Balanced nutrition will help in the overall development of children,” the Chief Minister said while thanking the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) for partnering with the government in the initiative.
Adhikari also clarified that no existing mid-day meal cooks would lose their jobs following the launch of the centralised kitchen. He said the government had already increased their monthly honorarium from ₹2,000 to ₹3,000.
The event was attended by Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Agrawal, School Education Minister Dipak Barman, and around 40 students from five schools.
Officials said the centralised kitchen is expected to improve the efficiency, hygiene and timely distribution of meals under the State’s mid-day meal programme.
