Re-start mid-day meals in schools Sonia
New Delhi Mar 23 PTI Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday urged the Centre to restart the mid-day meal scheme in schools which was discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemicMaking a Zero Hour mention she also asked the government to make available hot cooked food to children under three years pregnant women and lactating mothers Gandhi said children the future of the country had suffered the most during the pandemic as schools were among the first institutions to be shut down and the last to reopenWhen schools were shut down the mid-day meals scheme was also discontinued It was because of the National Food Security Act and directions from the Supreme Court that people were given dry rations But for children dry ration is no substitute for cooked and nutritious meals she saidGandhi said it was true that children and their families had to face difficult times during the unprecedented pandemicBut now as children return to school they need to be given better nutrition Mid-day meals will also help bring those children back to school who had dropped out during the pandemic she saidGandhi noted that according to the National Family Health Survey NFHS 2019-21 the percentage of malnourished and underweight children under five years of age has increased in comparison with 2015-16This is worrisome and the government should make every effort to prevent this she assertedThis is Gandhis second Zero Hour mention within a week PTI SKU SRY
New Delhi Mar 23 PTI Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday urged the Centre to restart the mid-day meal scheme in schools which was discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemicMaking a Zero Hour mention she also asked the government to make available hot cooked food to children under three years pregnant women and lactating mothers Gandhi said children the future of the country had suffered the most during the pandemic as schools were among the first institutions to be shut down and the last to reopenWhen schools were shut down the mid-day meals scheme was also discontinued It was because of the National Food Security Act and directions from the Supreme Court that people were given dry rations But for children dry ration is no substitute for cooked and nutritious meals she saidGandhi said it was true that children and their families had to face difficult times during the unprecedented pandemicBut now as children return to school they need to be given better nutrition Mid-day meals will also help bring those children back to school who had dropped out during the pandemic she saidGandhi noted that according to the National Family Health Survey NFHS 2019-21 the percentage of malnourished and underweight children under five years of age has increased in comparison with 2015-16This is worrisome and the government should make every effort to prevent this she assertedThis is Gandhis second Zero Hour mention within a week PTI SKU SRY
