Chikki removed from midday meal menu in Karnataka 

Officials shared concerns about the storage of chikkis. They said that improper storage of chikkis could lead to them going bad, and its consumption could be bad for health. An official from Dharwad also claimed that it was noticed that in many schools, chikkis that were way past their expiration dates were being distributed to children.

After senior officials of the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) flagged concerns about the adverse effects of groundnut chikki, which was being provided as one of the nutritional supplements to students as part of the midday meal scheme, the department issued an order on February 17, 2025, to stop the distribution of chikkis across Karnataka.

The government was distributing chikki, banana or eggs as a nutritional supplement for students from classes 1 to 10 in government and government-aided schools across Karnataka. However, recently the Additional Commissioner, DSEL wrote to the department that the combination of unsaturated fats and high sugar content in chikki could adversely impact the health of children. 

The official, along with Additional Commissioner, DSEL, Dharwad, also shared concerns about the storage of chikkis. They said that improper storage of chikkis could lead to them going bad, and their consumption could be harmful to health. The official from Dharwad also said that it was noticed that in many schools, chikkis that were way past their expiry dates were being distributed to children.  

After taking these points into consideration, the DSEL ordered the discontinuation of distribution of chikkis. “Due to all of these reasons, going forward, the students in government and aided schools should be given only bananas or eggs as nutritional supplements along with midday meals,” the order stated.

While the students from classes 1 to 8 were previously getting the nutritional supplements twice a week, in 2023, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Madhu Bangarappa had announced that students of classes 9 and 10 will also be provided the supplements. Around 60 lakh children have been benefitted by the supplements.