** Centralisation **

(Penned in October)

The Noon meal scheme in TN is totally decentralised. In that, every school that implements the scheme are supplied with ration. Two are more people are employed, who, like teachers, come to school everyday in the morning - but their role, obviously, is to cook food and clean utensils.

Recently, I read article which speaks about the manner in which the same Noon meal scheme is being implemented in a few districts of AP. In AP, food is prepared in a centralised place and cooked food is being supplied to schools.

The advantages of centralised cooking is multifold. First of all - you need a Quality control agency in one single point - quality of both rations that come in and the prepared food that goes out can be monitored effectively and easily. Secondly, when it comes to providing a modern kitchen - its easy to provide modern facilities than providing it at thousands of schools. Also, the photo of the kitchen that was published in the magazine was atleast hundred times better than the cooking hall in TN schools that I have seen. Instead of distributing the ration, AP model goes about distributing the cooked food. There is a weekly menu card as per which food is cooked in AP schools (pulihora is the kids' favourite). Very importantly, in case of TN model, the ration that is being supplied - as you would expect - leaks out through every link that is involved., which is effectively stopped in the AP model.

Centralisation and Decentralisation has its own advantages and disadvantages. When both the AP & TN model are compared - I feel, the AP model is better than the TN model. Having said that, more than the model - it is the "effective implementation" that counts more than the model itself.