Delhi Govt School Students To Get Dry Ration Under Mid-Day Meal Schemes For 6 Months, Announces CM Kejriwal

"When schools were closed, we decided to send the money for mid-day meals to parents' account, but now, it has been decided that we will give dry rations for six months," Kejriwal said.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal along with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia during the distribution of mid-day meal dry kit, at a government school. (Image: PTI)

New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government will provide dry ration to the students of government-run schools in the national capital  under the mid-day meal scheme for six months in the view of continued closure of schools since March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. "When schools were closed, we decided to send the money for mid-day meals to parents' account, but now, it has been decided that we will give dry rations for six months," Kejriwal said at a dry ration distribution event at a government school in Mandawali area earlier in the day. Schools across the country were shutdown in March after the Central government imposed a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of Coronavirus.

Delhi govt is committed to ensure proper nutrition for the children. Distributing dry ration kits to the school students under the Mid-day meal scheme | LIVE https://t.co/E8pK9c9IvY

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 29, 2020

Since October 15, several states have allowed reopening of schools. However, Delhi government has maintained that it would not put lives of children at risk and schools in the nation capital will continue to be shut till a vaccine for the contagious disease is not available. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said that the schools in Delhi will remain closed for the time being because nothing is more important than the safety of the school students in the middle of a pandemic. The sudden and massive outbreak of Coronavirus pandemic left Delhi bruised and battered in 2020 but the city fought back with an army of 'corona warriors' and strategic decisions in the war against the faceless enemy. The first case of COVID-19 in Delhi was reported on March 1 when a businessman from east Delhi, who had returned from Italy, tested positive. On April 11, the number of cases crossed the 1,000-mark, totaling 1,069, while the death count on that day was 19. Active cases on April 27 when the tally crossed the 3,000-mark stood at 2,177. Meanwhile Delhi recorded 703 fresh COVID-19 cases and 28 new fatalities on Tuesday, as the positivity rate improved slightly to stand at 0.83 per cent. The infection tally in the city mounted to over 6.24 lakh and the death toll to 10,502.