Rs.5.18 adequate for mid-day meal breakfast: Parrikar

Under the mid-day meal scheme, Rs.5.18 is adequate for one student's breakfast, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has said.

Parrikar, also the state education minister, said the key to proper delivery of the mid-day meal scheme was involvement of parents in ensuring quality control of the food served to school students.

"I feel that the amount of Rs 5.18 per student is sufficient enough to provide a decent breakfast," Parrikar said, adding with caution, that his government was willing to make more funds available for the mid-day meal scheme, if required.

His comments come at a time when the state government is poised to overhaul the mid-day meal scheme after a string of incidents where students from schools across the state fell ill after eating a mid-day meal.

Parrikar now wants parents of schoolchildren to get active in maintaining the quality of the food served.

"What is important is that the parents should shoulder the responsibility of testing the mid-day meals," he said.