Rajasthan’s Midday meal makeover: Old pots out, fresh plates in

Jaipur: Rajasthan is giving its Midday Meal kitchens a hygiene upgrade, earmarking funds for 53,738 govt schools and madrasas to replace utensils and kitchen equipment that have crossed the five-year mark.

The move is aimed at tightening food safety and improving meal quality for students. According to an official order, grants will be linked to Class 1-8 enrolment: schools with up to 50 students will receive Rs 10,000; 51-150 students will get Rs 15,000; 151-250 students will get Rs 20,000; and those with 251 or more students will receive up to Rs 25,000.

In an order issued on April 15 to all district education officers, Commissioner Midday Meal Vishwa Mohan Sharma said, “States and UTs have the flexibility to incur expenditure on cooking devices (stove, chulha); containers for storage of food grains and other ingredients; utensils for cooking and serving etc, on the basis of the actual requirements of the schools under the component of kitchen devices. There is a provision for the replacement of these kitchen devices after five years from the date of sanction.”

All district education officers have been instructed to obtain proposals for replacement of required kitchen devices from the 53,738 schools and share them with the directorate.

The order further mentions that requests for necessary kitchen devices “must be made strictly within the limits of the sanctioned funds allocated to the respective schools.”

The state has increased the honorarium for cook-cum-helpers preparing midday meals in govt schools by 10% from this month. They will now receive Rs 2,467 per month for up to 10 months. Of this, Rs 600 will be contributed by the central govt and Rs 1,867 by the state govt. The hike was announced in the state Budget for 2026-27.
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