Decentralised kitchens—with raised platforms and units and proper ventilation—have been developed to ensure warm and fresh food for students. But the primary aim of these kitchens is to ensure that the food is cooked under a roof rather than out in the open. The idea is to enhance infrastructure, thus improving the quality of food being provided to students in rural areas.

In phase I of the project, over 30,000 small kitchens have been constructed across 32 districts of Rajasthan, while the construction of 8,000 kitchens is underway. The kitchens have been constructed at a cost of Rs 203 crore. While the funds for setting up of 8,000 kitchens have come from the Centre, the state Government has spent on the construction of the remaining kitchens.

Presently, Barmer district has the most number of decentralised kitchens, 3,340, of which 3,009 are operational and 331 are under construction. Jodhpur is next with 3,001 kitchens and Bhilwada has 2,935. The project will ensure that all schools in rural areas are covered under this scheme.

“Centralised kitchens cater mainly to schools in the urban areas, whereas decentralised kitchens are for those in the rural areas. Transporting food to these schools is not feasible and it is time consuming,” said Sudhashu Pant, Commissioner, Mid-Day Meals.

“A couple of years ago, meals were cooked just outside the classrooms and the smoke would get into the eyes of the children. Now, we do not face that problem and we need not worry about where to cook meals during the monsoon season,” said Chhaya Bapna, a teacher in one of the primary schools in rural Jaipur.

Of the 64,000 schools across Rajasthan, centralised kitchens cover only 4,000 schools. There are 12 centralised kitchens across the state and 11 are under construction. These cater to four lakh students in the urban areas.

The 500-odd Women Co-operative Societies, which prepare meals at centrally located schools and provide it to 16 schools, cater to over three lakh students. The total number of students being provided mid-day meals across Rajasthan exceeds 11 lakh.