Bhubaneswar: The state government is going to introduce kitchen garden concept in Odisha’s schools under the mid-day meal (MDM) scheme soon.
Briefing the media Wednesday afternoon, the state nodal officer MDM Gangadhar Sahu said that the government has provided Rs 5,000 each to 43,000 schools in the state to take up this scheme.
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“Schools were asked to set up nutritional gardens and plant all-season fruit-bearing trees like lemon, papaya and drumstick including long-term fruit-bearing plants like jackfruit during the monsoon. Moreover, the schools may plant seasonal vegetables,” Sahu said.
The schools having boundary walls and also with adequate water facilities will take up the kitchen garden scheme, Sahu added.
School authorities will procure requisite kits from state Horticulture department which will assist the schools with the technical knowhow for kitchen garden. A committee will be formed under the chairmanship of the district Collector to oversee its implementation.
“During a visit to Malkangiri, we found that some schools have produced truckloads of pumpkins. Some schools in Kandhamal and Keonjhar districts have produced huge quantity of tomatoes,” he said.
“Launching of the scheme has been postponed in view of the COVID-19 outbreak. Once the pandemic situation is over, schools will take up the scheme on their own,” Sahu expressed.
The scheme aims at cutting down expenses incurred by schools in procuring vegetables from local markets for the mid-day meal. The basic aim of this scheme is also to involve all school students.
Even much before launching of the scheme, some schools in Malkangiri, Kandhamal and Keonjhar districts had already started kitchen gardens on their own, the MDM nodal officer pointed out.
PNN
