Milk-feeding schoolchildren should continue

In a pilot programme, the students of 300 government primary schools were supposed to get milk free of cost during their 'Tiffin' period throughout the year. The programme, initiated by the fisheries and livestock ministry, was no doubt a laudable move. However, soon after its launch, the programme got stuck in Chuadanga. The programme has not yet started in most primary schools. And the school, which started feeding its primary students milk, stopped doing it just after 17 days of its inauguration.
The local distributor of the contracted milk supply company stopped its work without explaining the reason. It has had a negative impact on the students. Many poor families became interested in sending their children to school due to the school milk feeding programme. However, the sudden closure of the programme has disappointed them.
According to an estimate, people in the developed world drink about one litre of milk every day. But in Bangladesh, this rate is only 176 millilitres. Ours is one of the leading countries in the world in terms of number of stunted children due to malnutrition. Students' merit is directly related to nutrition. Fish and meat in the market have for long gone beyond the reach of the poor families. Eggs were once the source of cheap protein. It is now out of reach too. The price of milk has risen from Tk 70 to Tk 100 in a year and a half. In this situation, feeding milk to primary students should continue and we cannot let this imitative fail. We urge the authorities concerned to resume this programme as soon as possible so that some poor children can improve their nutritional status.
Ashikujaman Syed,
Foreign Service Officer,
Anhui Haikang Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd,
Anqing, China,
syedashikujaman@yahoo.com