COIMBATORE: The noon meal centres in the Coimbatore Corporation schools are undergoing a change of image – from being ill-equipped to provide food amid good conditions to students to that of a full-fledged meal centre with an emphasis on hygiene.

The Corporation has built dining halls so that children need not sit on corridors or open spaces for want of space.

Utensils

The Corporation has purchased all the necessary utensils at Rs.9.8 lakh for the meal centres at 80 out of the 85 schools.

Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra said stainless steel plates, spoons and tumblers were provided for the students.

Water jugs, vessels to hold rice and other utensils were also available now at the noon meal centres.

Every centre now had digital weighing machines.

Cost

The total amount spend on this was Rs.2.9 lakh.

Mayor R. Venkatachalam and the Commissioner served food for the children at the Corporation school at Pappanaickenpudur on Monday to inaugurate the new facilities.

They were joined by Education Committee Chairman R. Kalyanasundaram, West Zone Chairman V.P. Selvaraj and committee members Meena Loganathan, C. Sivakami and K. Selvaraj. Mr. Kalayanasundaram said what the Corporation had done to the meal centres was a rare effort by a local body.

“Coimbatore should rank as the first Corporation to have revamped the entire noon meal centre system on the premises of its schools. What we have provided now certainly improves the conditions in which poor children have food provided free of cost to them by the Government in the schools.”

The Corporation had already provided water purifiers to schools as it wanted to protect students from contracting diseases by consuming unsafe water.

Courtesy - Hindu