New Delhi: The government has made it mandatory for midday meals, provided to students of schools, to be tested by accredited labs each month for quality and nutrition level under new rules notified on Wednesday. It has also decided to provide school kids an allowance if midday meal is not provided to them.
The Mid-Day Meal Rules, 2015, notified on Wednesday under the Food Security Act 2013, also seeks to fix responsibility on persons for non-supply of food
for three consecutive school days or five days in a month.
The push for testing food quality came after complaints of repeated complaints of sub-standard food being distributed under the mid-day meal programme that covers roughly 10.5 lakh students across the country.
Testing of the meals by accredited labs has been made mandatory under the new rules.
