Gandhinagar: Gujarat govt has increased the allocation for hot-cooked meals served at anganwadis by 67%, raising the rate from Rs 5.1 to Rs 8.5 per child per day to improve the nutritional quality and variety of food served to more than 16.2 lakh children aged three to six years.State govt will bear the additional cost of Rs 3.4 per child daily increase, translating into an additional annual expenditure of around Rs 80 crore. The existing allocation will continue to be shared equally by Centre and state, an official statement said on Wednesday. The revised allocation will benefit children enrolled at 53,065 anganwadis across Gujarat.Along with increasing the procurement budget, govt has revised the hot-cooked meal menu to place greater emphasis on pulses, whole green gram, chickpeas, seasonal green vegetables and fruits. The menu provides for a hot snack at 11 am and a cooked meal at 1.30 pm.According to the statement, the revised daily allocation of Rs 8.5 also specifies expenditure on individual ingredients. Fruits account for Rs 2 per child, followed by whole green gram at Rs 1.3 and tur dal at Rs 1.2. The allocation also covers chickpeas, jaggery, seasonal vegetables, peanuts or sesame seeds, spices and local transportation.The decision was taken under the supplementary nutrition component of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, the statement said.
