Karnataka education officials asked to evaluate pros and cons of cluster kitchen system for midday meals

Considering the request of Government Primary School Teachers’ Association, the Joint Director of the PM Poshan Shakti Nirman scheme, under the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL), has instructed Deputy Directors of Public Instruction (DDPIs) and Block Education Officers (BEOs) of all districts in Karnataka to examine the pros and cons of adapting “cluster kitchen centre” system to provide midday meals to government schools.

Highlighting the workload on government school teachers, the association had requested the government to open cluster kitchens rather than prepare midday meals at every individual school. The association had submitted a formal request to the Principal Secretary of the School Education Department and the Director of the PM Poshan Abhiyan.

Tasks of teachers

The association has argued that teachers are already burdened with several administrative tasks, including the school enrolment abhiyan, student scholarship enrolment and registration, and updating records in the Student Achievement Tracking System (SATS), apart from maintaining attendance records in the Nirantara app. This is in addition to responsibilities related to midday meals.

Teachers are also continuously deployed for census and other non-academic duties. Around 65,000 teachers had been deployed for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka.

Under the existing system, teachers oversee the procurement of groceries, milk, greens, vegetables, eggs and bananas, besides supervising food preparation and distribution. They are also required to maintain related records on the SATS and Nirantara apps.

NGOs in cities

However, various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as ISKCON’s Akshaya Patra and Adamya Chetana are already supplying midday meals through cloud kitchens or cluster kitchens in Bengaluru, Hubballi and other urban centres.

Therefore, the association has proposed establishing similar cluster-level kitchen centres across the State and allocating them to associations, organisations, self-help groups or Stree Shakti Sanghas for the preparation and supply of midday meals to government schools within each cluster. “This would relieve teachers of midday meal responsibilities and enable them to focus on teaching,” the association urged.