Kamal Ghorui
PUNE: Contractors who operate midday meal kitchens across the state have expressed concern over a potential disruption in cooking meals for schoolchildren due to the spiralling LPG supply shortage. Most kitchens have limited stock and operators warned that disruption in gas supply could soon affect the preparation of rice and dal khichadi served daily to students.Across the state, the midday meal scheme operates through a mix of centralised kitchens, contractor-run kitchen sheds, and cooking on the school premises. Large centralised kitchens depend heavily on an uninterrupted LPG supply to prepare meals. The programme relies on kitchen facilities in thousands of schools, with about 38,000 kitchen sheds sanctioned to cook and serve food.
If LPG deliveries remain irregular, kitchen operators said the programme critical for nutrition and attendance in govt schools may face operational challenges. Midday meal contractors have written to the state govt to issue a notification to prioritise LPG supply to them.Kitchen operators and school teachers said a prolonged disruption could affect the preparation of daily meals for lakhs of students. Schools will continue functioning for at least another month before the summer vacation.Rajesh Gaikwad, a member of Centralised Kitchen Association for midday meals, said fuel requirement is significant for large-scale cooking. “Depending on the capacity, a centralised kitchen needs between four and eight LPG cylinders every day. In Pune alone, a centralised kitchen supplies khichadi to around 20,000 students daily. Similar large kitchens, operating in Ahilyanagar and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, cater to thousands of children every day,” he added.Thousands of smaller kitchen sheds run by contractors supply meals to nearby schools. In rural areas, the responsibility of cooking the meal often rests with schools and local self-help groups.In rural schools, teachers said they have begun making alternative arrangements as LPG supplies slowed in the past few days. In Haveli taluka of Pune district, some zilla parishad schools temporarily shifted to traditional cooking methods.“So far, we managed with the available cylinders, but if the supply is delayed further, we may also cook on a chullah like some schools in western Maharashtra,” a ZP school teacher from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district said.“We prepared khichadi on a chullah for the last two days because the LPG cylinder has not yet been replaced. The meal must be served on time, so we have no option but to manage with firewood for now,” a teacher from a zilla parishad school in Haveli taluka said.
