Monitoring of the MDM Scheme through mobile application and maintaining data - Training Schedule, Training Document

JAGANANNA GORUMUDDA (MDM)

(Training Document on Monitoring)

Introduction:

Jaganna Gorumudda (Mid-Day Meal Scheme) is a flagship programme assisted by the Government of India aiming at improving nutritional levels among children studying in Government, Local Body and Government-aided primary and upper primary schools and the Centres run under Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS)/Alternative & Innovative Education (AIE) and National Children Labour Project (NCLP) schools now called as Special Training Centres (STC) of all areas across the country.

Objectives:

•     To avoid classroom hunger,
•     To increase school enrolment,
•     To increase school attendance,
•     To reduce gender gap, fostering social equality,
•     To address malnutrition, promoting schools participation,
•     Woman empowerment 

Andhra Pradesh scenario:

Mid Day Meals is implemented in the State from January 2003 for the children of classes I to V.   Extended to class I-VIII from 2008.  Extended to the children of classes IX and X with effect from October, 2008 (100% State share). Extended to Special Training Centres (NCLP) from 2010.Model schools are also being covered from the year 2013-14.

It is submitted that the 11^th Joint Review Mission on Mid Day Meals Scheme in Andhra Pradesh carried out by the Ministry of Human Resource Development; Government of India revealed that about 42% of school-going children in the age group 5-15 years were malnourished. The children showed below normal BMI, height and weight along with apparent clinical symptoms indicating the presence of vitamin B, iron and folic acid deficiencies. Hence the nutrition intervention programmes should address the issues of both micro nutrient and macro nutrient deficiencies in children. Despite extending calories and proteins for children for upper primary school children per day through mid day meal scheme, the malnutrition is still persisting in school children. 

The Hon’ble Chief Minister has personally reviewed the status of malnutrition among children and directed to bring radical changes in the existing menu being provided to the children and to provide additional nutritious food to the children. Accordingly, Government issued orders for revision of Menu.

The revised Menu is as follows:

Day	Menu Items
Monday	Cooked Rice(Annam), Pappu-chaaru, Egg-curry(Guddu-koora), Peanut-Jaggery Chikki
Tuesday	Tamarind/lemon/mango-rice (Pulihora) Dhal    with Tomatoes(Tomato pappu) Boiled Egg(Udikinchina guddu)
Wednesday	Vegetable-Rice(Kooragayalaannam),   Aloo-Khurma Boiled Egg(Udikinchina guddu), Peanut-Jaggery Chikki
Thursday	Kitchidi (Pesarapappu-annam),    Tomato chutney(Tomato-chutney, Boiled Egg(Udikinchina-guddu)
Friday	Cooked Rice (Annam),  Dhal with green leaves(Akukoora-pappu, Boiled Egg(Udikinchina-guddu), Peanut-Jaggery Chikki
Saturday	Cooked   Rice(Annam), Sambar, Sweet-pongal (Theepi-pongali)

The revised Menu came into effect form 21^st January 2020.

ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES:

Head masters:

• Encouraging students to come regularly to school and having meals in school itself.
•  Checking the usage of quantity of ingredients in preparation of meals being provided to children.
• Ensuring personal hygiene of the Cook-cum-Helpers.
• Ensuring clean and healthy food as per norms and inculcating a standard for the school, which the students can see, learn and adopt.
• If any discrepancy is found he/she has to escalate to higher level and rectify the short coming. Head master has to come out with suggestions if any required for improvement.
• Entering the details like attendance, meals taken, eggs consumed, chikkies provided etc., daily in the mobile app meant for it.
• Appointing one teacher to monitor the cooking and serving of meals.
• Encourage children to comply with procedures for use and care of water, sanitation and hygiene-enabling facilities at school, and develop positive hygiene behaviors.
• Communicating with the SMC and getting suggestions on changes to be made in quality and quantity of meals.

Members of Parent committee:

• Support, or participate actively in, parent–teacher associations or similar bodies and give regular feedback about the food cooking, hygiene drinking water etc.
• Shall oversee the quality of meals provided to the children, cleanliness of the place of cooking and maintenance of hygiene in implementation of mid day meal scheme.
• Shall check the quality of meals being provided, eggs and Chikkies.
• Monthly meeting with Parents Committee members shall be conducted for necessary suggestion on overall development of the school.
• Parent-Teacher Association meeting shall be utilised for involvement of civil society in improving the monitoring of MDM and ensuring that the problems are detected early and speedily rectified.

Welfare and Education Asst.:

• Monitor implementation of MDM in all schools covered under Village secretariat/Ward secretariat.
• Visiting the schools without intimation to the Head Master and checking the correctness in attendance, MDM consumption and discrepancies occurred in data entry. At least 3 schools shall be inspected in a week.
• Check the implementation of Menu.
• Monitoring the improvements in comparison with earlier observations made at the time of inspection.
• Suggesting the Head Masters on immediate measures to be taken for improvement of the quality and quantity of meals.
•  Escalating the observations to the Departmental officers for taking required measures for improvement.
• Communicating with the Parent Committees on improvement.

Village Organization (S.H.Gs):-

• Monitor provision of water facility, availability of sanitation and hygiene surroundings of schools.
•  Involve Gram Panchayats /Village Education Committees in regular visits, on a rotation basis, to help the school management in ensuring efficient quality cooking, serving and cleaning operations.
•  Encouraging village community to make donations and providing additional food items on festivals, marriages, birthdays etc.
•  Encouraging Mothers to take turns to oversee the feeding of the children with simple intervention of ‘mothers watch’, giving mothers voice,  role and greater ownership of the scheme.
•  Visits shall be made at least once in every quarter/month.

GUIDELINES FOR INSPECTING OFFICERS: 

Attendance:

• Entering the class-wise attendance particulars in the mobile app and number of children taken meals immediately after meals.
• In data capture forms the feedback from Head Master/cooks/organizers/children and parents /community leaders/PRIs etc. shall be entered.
•  The data is to be collected from school level through Management Information System and disseminate to other stakeholders.
•  Review of status of data entry in regular intervals by the visiting officers.
•  Impact parameters, namely the effect on regularity of attendance, retention in and improving children’s nutritional status.

PERSONAL HYGIENE OF COOK CUM HELPERS:

• Cooks and helpers should maintain a high degree of personal hygiene and cleanliness. Bi-annual health checks up should be undertaken to ensure fitness for the job of CCH.
• All food handlers should remain clean, wear washed clothes and keep their finger nails trimmed, clean and wash their hands with soap/ detergent and water before commencing work and every time after touching, raw or contaminated food or using toilet.
• It should be ensured that all CCHs are trained in food hygiene and food safety aspects along with personal hygiene requirements. Training programmes should be regularly reviewed and updated wherever necessary.
• Chewing, smoking, spitting and nose blowing shall be prohibited within the premises especially while handling food.
• The CCHs shall have adequate and suitable clean protective clothing, head covering. Hair should be tied up neatly.

STORAGE OF RAW MATERIAL

• The supplied food grains like rice should not be stored for more than a quarter; they may be stored in airtight bins or stacked neatly in gunny bags or bins and stored in area free of rodents and insects. Food grain should not be stored directly on the ground; a wooden plank should be used for stacking of food grains.
• In respect of storage of other raw materials, it should be stored in bags, should be away from the walls (about one feet) to avoid absorption of moisture; the height of the wooden plank may be at least 8 to 12 cms above the floor.
•  Ingredients like double fortified salt, condiments, oils, pulses etc. should be stored in airtight containers.
• All containers should be of materials that do not impart toxicity to food. These containers should be cleaned at regular intervals and thoroughly dried before use. It should be ensured that ingredients used for cooking such as food grains, pulses, vegetables, cooking oil and condiments, are free from adulteration, contaminants, pest and infestation.
• All stored raw materials and ingredients must be kept under dry and cool and ventilated conditions that will prevent spoilage, protect against contamination by pathogenic microorganisms, insects, rodents, foreign bodies, chemicals and damage.
• Storage of fuels, disinfectants, detergents, cleaning agents should be strictly away from the stored raw materials and under lock and key.

QUALITY OF PRODUCTS

Dal & Vegetables: 

• Vegetable and perishable food commodities shall be procured and utilized afresh.
• Only packed Dals, salt, spices, condiments and oil with AGMARK quality symbol shall be purchased. Any ingredient being sold loose should never be bought. The packaging and expiry date of the ingredients should be checked.
• Only “double fortified salt” shall be used for cooking meals.
• Food grains should be stored in standard bins. Food grade containers are ideal for storage of Dals, spices, condiments and other ingredients.
•  Perishable items should not be stored in plastic bags.
•  Storage of raw materials, ingredients should be subject to FEFO (First Expire First Out) or FIFO (First in, First Out) stock rotation system as applicable. Containers made of non-toxic materials should be provided for storage of raw materials.
• All raw materials should be physically checked & thoroughly cleaned. Raw materials should be purchased in quantities that correspond to storage/ preservation capacity. Packaged raw material must be checked for 'expiry date'/ 'best before'/ 'use by' date, packaging integrity and storage conditions.

EGGS:

• At the time of receipt of eggs the HM/ teacher has to check that the shell is not cracked or slimy. Sliminess or cracks can indicate the presence of bacteria.
• The date of supply shall be noted in the presence of the supplier. The HM shall be present at the time of receipt of eggs and certify the quality and quantity of eggs with colour code.
• The Supplier shall be asked to carry an appliance to measure the weight of eggs at the time of delivery.
• The eggs, found spoiled after delivery, shall be kept aside and got replaced within the week without fail. The spoiled/ cracked/ underweight eggs are get replaced with quality eggs on the spot.
• The eggs shall be served to the children within the week from the date of supply of eggs. No spoiled egg shall be cooked and served to the children.

Peanut-Jaggery Chikki:

• Ingredients: Peanut and Jaggery shall be in the ratio of 2:1.
• Wight of each chikki piece shall be 25 Grams. The Chikki shall be a square or rectangle in shape. The Chikkies shall easily be separable and non-sticky.
• Chikkies have to be made using pure Jaggery as per standards only. No other form of artificial/ chemical sweetener should be used in preparation of any type of Chikki.
•  Hand-picked selected non-defatted blanched Peanut kernels suitable for table use conforming to grades as per Indian Standards shall be used. The kernels shall be free from foreign materials, namely, mud, stones, etc, including other non-edible items. The groundnuts shall be cleaned of all lentils, germs, over burnt seeds, etc,. Groundnuts shall be fresh, of slightly sweet, pleasant taste, free from insects, rodent hair and excreta, fungal infection, bitter or rancid taste and odour.
• The items shall not contain any added colours and flavoring agents, preservatives other than those covered under the provisions of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 and the Rules framed there under.
•  The Chikkies shall have certification from FSSAI with number along with the nutritional values. 
•  Packing: While supplying to the designated points each Chikkis has to be packed in a separate one Kg packets with scheme Logo and content and bundled in a Carton Box of 10/20 kg each. All the Carton boxes supplied to each designated location should be mandatorily Bar Coded. 

KITEHCN PROTOCALS:

A.  Centralized Kitchens:

• The kitchen shall be centrally located in the cluster area i.e. within the radius of 20 KM and the travelling time shall be less than 1 hour.
• The temperature of food at the time of serving shall be at or above 65^oC.
• The supply of cooked meal shall be in insulted stainless steel containers.
•  The Kitchen shall be located in a clean and open place and free from filthy surroundings and should maintain overall hygienic environment.
• The details of the vehicles along with the Phone number of driver shall be kept available with the each Head Master and MEO.

         School Kitchens:

• The Kitchen cum Store should be located in a clean, free from filthy surroundings, adequately lighted and ventilated and have sufficient free space for movement.
•  All utensils should be kept clean, washed, dried and stored at the Kitchen cum store to ensure freedom from growth of mold/ fungi and infestation.
• There should be efficient drainage system and adequate provisions for disposal of refuse. Potential sources of contamination like rubbish, waste water, toilet facilities, open drains and stray animals should be kept away from kitchen.
• Kitchen should be separate from classrooms, preferably located at a safe, but accessible distance.
• A display board mentioning do's & don'ts for the CCHs should be put up inside at a prominent place in the premise in local language for everyone's understanding.

FOOD SAFETY MEASURES:

A.  During preparation

• The cereals and pulses should be manually cleaned before cooking to remove any extraneous matter.
•  Vegetables and Leafy vegetables when added to any preparation should be thoroughly washed before cutting and should not be subjected to washing after cutting.
• For chopping vegetables a clean chopping board or a neatly covered floor (dust and mantle shall not be in contact) shall be used.

B.    During cooking

• Cooking must be done with the lid on to avoid loss of nutrients and contamination
•  The containers should be checked daily for its cleanliness. The vessels shall be cleaned before and after cooking.

C.   Hand-Washing for Children:

• Washing hands with soap before and after eating shall be vigorously promoted and supervised.
• The schools may define an area for hand washing where very simple scalable and cost effective multiple hand washing facilities can be installed to be used by large groups of children at a time.

D.   Tasting of the mid-day meals by teacher:

• The tasting of the food, provided by the Centralized Kitchen or cooked in school premises, by a teacher just before serving is mandatory.
• The teacher has to maintain a record (Taste Register).
• One Parent Committee member also have to taste the food on a rotation basis before it is distributed to the children.

E. Drainage and Waste Disposal: 

• Adequate drainage, waste disposal systems and facilities shall be provided and they shall be in such manner so that the risk of contaminating food or the potable water supply is eliminated.
• Waste storage should be located outside of the kitchen and waste should be kept in covered containers and removed at regular intervals.
• Periodic disposal of the refuse/ waste should be made compulsory. 

F.  Food serving area: 

• The serving area shall be spacious enough, well ventilated and with windows having wire mesh.
• The room shall be cleaned every day before and after meals.
• The students shall be guided by the teachers on every hygienic aspect.
•  The students shall be allowed to sit in a row properly and the meals shall be served by the Cook-cum-Helpers. In case of non-possibility of seating arrangements the students shall be supervised to form a queue to collect meals. In such case the counters shall be sufficient 

QUALITY OF MEALS:

The quality of meals shall be measured based on the following:

• Temperature at the time of serving of meals.
• Taste of the meals.
• Quality and quantity of ingredients used in preparation of meals.
• This includes external factors as appearance, texture, and flavor.
• The food processing environment shall be as clean as possible in order to produce the safest possible meals.
• Quality of eggs and Peanut-Jaggery Chikki being provided.
• Satisfaction/ feedback of the children.
• Quality of water used for cooking and drinking water provided.

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