Children at MCD schools in Delhi will see some changes in their mid-day meals from November, as the civic body will be giving a wider range of food items to students in nearly 1,500 schools.
The revamped menu would include oats cookies, fruits, kheer and sambar rice, among other items. It is meant to make healthy food more appealing to kids and encourage them to eat their meals more often, officials said.
The changes come as MCD prepares to bring in a new set of agencies to operate its school kitchens. These agencies have been asked to introduce at least one “special” item along with the regular meal every day.
The point is to move away from the cycle of meals and work on meeting the nutritional requirements of school meals.
Oats Cookies, Fruit And Kheer Among New Options
According to officials, oats cookies and oat-based items are being considered for the new menu. Fruits and kheer will also be added, while sambar rice will be another meal option.
The plan is not to completely replace the existing meals. Popular dishes such as dal-rice, chole-rice, puri-aloo, rajma-chawal and kadhi-chawal are expected to continue.
Wheat and ragi halwa are also planned as additional items twice a week, the report said.
MCD officials said the focus is on providing familiar ingredients in different forms so that children are more interested in eating the food served at school.
Partly because children lose interest if the same meals are served repeatedly, the approach is based on the concern that they can lose interest. By offering different preparations, the civic organization hopes to increase participation while still providing healthy food.
New agencies to run school kitchens
The menu changes are linked to the transition to a new set of agencies that will operate kitchens providing meals to MCD schools.
The agencies have been asked to introduce the additional items using their existing kitchen infrastructure. MCD has also been surveying facilities shortlisted as part of the process of hiring new kitchen operators.
The civic body is expected to finalise 13 new vendors for the school meal programme.
Food safety and quality checks will continue as part of the system. Reports said food supplies are tested through third-party laboratories, and samples collected from the food served to students and the kitchens.
The additional food options are therefore being introduced alongside the current monitoring system instead of as a replacement for nutritional and safety requirements.
Nutritional Standards to Keep In Place.
Although the menu will be expanded, the nutritional requirements of school meals will continue to apply.
Under PM POSHAN guidelines, meals for primary-school children should be prepared with a certain amount of calories and protein. The MCD plan said the primary-school meal requirement is around 450 calories and 12 grams of protein.
The goal is not to make the food healthier but more attractive. The civic body wants the new menu to have its nutritional value with children’s variety in mind.
A previous Delhi government assessment of the mid-day meal program also found that fresh seasonal fruit was among the most preferred meal additions among students who were surveyed, followed by biscuits. When the same food is served again and again, students can develop a dislike for the same food, the study observed.
The new changes seem to address that issue by bringing the familiar meals and new preparations and special items together.
What is The Menu.
Children get bored as they eat the same food again and again, officials said. The new approach is meant to make meals more appealing to students and encourage them to take in the food that is served to them.
Oats, for example, can be turned into cookies instead of served in a less familiar form. Seasonal fruits and desserts like kheer can add variety to the regular meal.
The plan also allows for existing ingredients to be brought in and used in different preparations and can give kitchen agencies more flexibility without completely changing the basic meal structure.
At the same time, the continuation of dishes such as dal-rice, chole-rice, rajma-chawal and kadhi-chawal means students will still have access to familiar foods.
MCD Schools to See Changes From November
The revised mid-day meal programme is expected to start from November 2026 in nearly 1,500 MCD schools in Delhi.
So the city is changing the way it prepares school meals, but keeping nutritional and food-safety checks in place.
For thousands of children who depend on school meals, adding fruit, oats cookies, kheer and sambar rice might offer more variety in what is otherwise a routine part of the school day.
The success of the revamped menu will ultimately depend on whether these new agencies are implementing it consistently, whether children actually like the new options and if nutritional and food-safety standards are maintained in the city’s schools.
