After Punjab State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation (MARKFED) decided to step away from providing pre-cooked meals under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme to toddlers last month, the Punjab Government has decided to reintroduce freshly cooked meals for children between 3-6 years at all anganwari centres in the state.Under the revised system, food served at anganwari centres will no longer rely on pre-cooked, ready-to-eat or ready-to-cook items supplied by any agency. Instead, anganwari workers will prepare fresh meals using wheat and rice supplied through the government distribution system. The Directorate of Social Security, Women and Child Development has also written to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) to allocate wheat and rice for preparing the meals in schools.Last month, MARKFED had withdrawn from supplying pre-cooked food to these centres after complaints of compromised child nutrition in these meals surfaced. Barinderjeet Kaur Chinna, state president, Sarv Anganwari Workers and Helpers’ Union, Punjab, said this was a step in the right direction. “Freshly cooked meals are always better than pre-cooked meals that have too many preservatives. The meals will be more acceptable amongst toddlers,” she said.According to the new policy, subsidised wheat and rice, including fortified rice, will be allocated to districts every quarter based on the actual attendance of children recorded on the Poshan Tracker app during January, April, July and October. The District Programme Officers (DPOs) will coordinate payments to FCI and obtain block-wise release orders for foodgrain supply. Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs) will then ensure transportation and delivery of grains to Anganwadi Centres.To support logistics, the government will provide an additional budget equal to three per cent of the total foodgrain cost for transportation. Remaining funds under prescribed nutrition cost norms will be transferred directly to Anganwari Workers for cooking and procurement of vegetables, pulses, spices and other ingredients. These workers will also be responsible for arranging cooking and ensuring quality standards at the centres.The freshly prepared meals under the scheme will also undergo sample testing under quality-control guidelines issued earlier this year. Since cooked meals are perishable, the department said detailed standard operating procedures for testing and monitoring will be issued separately in consultation with relevant agencies.