The School Development and Monitoring Committee (SDMC), Teachers & Students Complain about Soggy Raw Rice Served to Students in Karnataka State. Sources reveal that the quality of rice served to students in high schools across the state as part of the midday meal scheme is in the eye of significant controversy. Students, teachers and parents have complained that the rice supplied for students in Class 9 and 10, after cooking, turns soggy, thereby rendering it unsuitable for consumption.
Mangaluru: It is learnt that the School Development and Monitoring Committee, students and teachers in high schools have complained that cooked raw rice, instead of boiled rice, is being served for midday meals. Complaints have been raised about supplying boiled rice for midday meals for children studying in Class IX and X is the norm. ow, But now, the high schools have been supplied with raw rice. Meanwhile, there has been no complaint over the quality of the rice provided to students in Class I to VIII, which is sourced from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) under a central government scheme. That rice is fortified with three micronutrients: vitamin B-12, iron and folic acid.
Under the midday meal scheme, rice for students in Class I to VIII is supplied by FCI, while Class IX and X receive their supplies by inviting tenders, where the price is fixed at Rs 26 per kg. In comparison, boiled rice costs around Rs 34 a kg. It is being complained that given the higher price of boiled rice, suppliers purchased raw rice. According to a teacher, Children are refusing to take soggy raw rice.
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Speaking to the media, Mohiuddin Kutty, president of, the SDMC Coordination Committee said that children in the coastal districts are used to consuming boiled rice and not raw rice. However, since last week, there have been complaints about the rice being soggy after cooking, instead of fluffy. As per Kutty’s complaint “Why does the government supply such rice when it is aware that children do not prefer it?”
A government school teacher in a rural area on the outskirts of Mangaluru said that schoolchildren have been refusing to have their midday meals given the change in rice quality. He questions “How does anyone expect a child to eat soggy rice for lunch,”. It is learnt that Usha M, the Executive Officer, Akshara Dasoha, has confirmed that the department had received complaints from the SDMC and teachers regarding the supply of raw rice for students in Class IX and X.
According to her “Raw rice can be consumed if cooked properly, but it will turn soggy if overcooked. Even then, we have brought this issue to the attention of our higher officials, who have assured us that it would be resolved as soon as possible,” She adds that 753 quintals of good quality raw rice were procured for November and December 2022.
The contract must be given to “ISCON”