“The concerns persist despite Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development M A A Fatmi stating in Parliament recently that serving biscuits as part of the midday meal scheme was not in the interest of schoolchildren. The minister said he had received a proposal last year from biscuit manufacturers for the serving of biscuits in place of hot cooked midday meals.”

You can replace “Parle-G” with any biscuit company for the purposes of this article. My point was exactly what you say near the end of your comment – if the government can find a nutritious and cost-effective substitute for cooked meals (especially in partnership with a company with widespread distribution networks, like you stated), I agree with the proposal. As it stands, however, this is clearly not the case.

However, there is opportunity for the government to partner with a consumer foods company and create a new products which meets the nutritional needs of the children. In addition, such companies usually have robust distribution networks that can be relied upon to get the product to remote schools across the country. The goal however is not take a product off the shelf – like Parle-G and propose it as a solution.