Latest news with #Sanku
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Health
- The Hindu
Biryani makes it to revised anganwadi menu
A child's innocent preference for biryani and chicken fry instead of upma has culminated in the revision of the anganwadi menu in the State. Just months after the video of young Trijal S. Sundhar, also known as Sanku, went viral on social media, prompting Minister for Health and Women and Child Development Veena George to promise a relook at the anganwadi menu, the 'model food menu' for anganwadi children was unveiled by the Minister at the inauguration of the State-level anganwadi Praveshanolsavam in Pathanamthitta on Tuesday. The new menu brought out by the Women and Child Development department promises more delicious fare that meets nutritional requirements and is protein and energy rich, while reducing sugar and salt intake. This is the first time that a uniform menu is being rolled out across anganwadis in the State. The revised menu covers breakfast, lunch, and general feeding and includes egg biryani and egg/veg pulao to ragi ada, soya dry curry, sprouts, raita, fruit cup, nutri laddu and 'parippu payasam' on different days. Milk and eggs that were provided two days a week will now be given three times a week. The menu also specifies the ingredients that go into a dish and their quantity and their nutritional values. After Sanku's mother had posted her son's video on her Instagram handle, the Minister too had shared it. She had later agreed that the anganwadi menu needed an upgrade and had to look appealing to children.
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Kerala govt revises anganwadi food menu; introduces egg biryani, pulao
Kochi: The daily food menu for over 33,000 anganwadis in Kerala has been revised with dishes like egg biryani and pulao introduced for the first time, said the state's women and child development minister Veena George. The minister said the government has ratified a model uniform food menu to be used in all 33,120 anganwadis in the state with the aim of ensuring a nutritious, protein-rich diet for the children. In January this year, a video of Riju S Sundar, affectionately called Sanku, a child at an anganwadi in Devikulam taluk in Idukki district, had gone viral. In the video, Sanku was heard making a fervent plea for biryani and chicken fry at the anganwadi instead of upma. After the video went viral on social media, minister George had reacted to it stating that the government would consider Sanku's request positively. On Tuesday, George, while inaugurating the state-level reopening of anganwadis in Pathanamthitta district, announced that the government had revised the food menu by acceding to requests of children like Sanku. 'We realised that it was important to revise the menu and have a uniform meal plan across all anganwadis. Since we are already supplying eggs, we have decided to introduce egg biryani and pulao. Also, there has been an approval from the anganwadi working group on distributing milk and eggs from the current two days a week to three days. The finance department will approve the funding for this,' the minister said. On the revised food menu are dishes like pidi (rice dumplings), green gram curry, rice, nutri laddoo, soy dry fry, stir-fried vegetables and broken wheat pulao, apart from milk and eggs. The minister said the new initiative of the WCD called 'Kunjoos' to track the physical, mental and intellectual well-being of a child in anganwadis has also been launched this year. Kunjoos cards, which will help teachers assess the physical and mental faculties of over 5 lakh children, have been distributed, she said.
