Revised School Lunch Menu to Be Rolled Out in Kerala Government Schools from August 1

Thiruvananthapuram: From August 1, government schools in Kerala will serve lunch based on a revised menu that includes a wider variety of nutritious dishes. The change applies to students from classes 1 to 8 and aims to improve the nutritional quality of mid-day meals across the state.
As per the new directive, one day each week will feature special rice-based meals such as vegetable fried rice, lemon rice, vegetable biryani, tomato rice, or coconut rice, served with suitable side dishes or kurma curry. To enhance flavour and nutrition, chutneys made from ingredients like mint, ginger, gooseberry, and raw mango are also recommended.
On other days, students will be served options like egg rice and mixed vegetable kurma. Additionally, sweet dishes made with millets—including ragi payasam, carrot payasam, elayada (stuffed rice cake), ragi kozhukkatta (sweet ragi dumplings with jaggery and coconut), sweetened poha, and ragi balls—will also be introduced.
The updated menu follows findings by a state-level expert committee that highlighted widespread nutritional issues among schoolchildren in Kerala—39% showing signs of undernutrition and 38% being overweight due to imbalanced diets. The government hopes the new variety of meals will provide both improved nutritional value and greater appeal to children, helping to address both extremes.