MUMBAI, Sept. 10 -- Poor quality Take Home Ration (THR) supplied to children and pregnant women has become a major concern for anganwadi workers in Maharashtra. They allege the beneficiaries refuse to consume the food, instead using it as animal feed. This was at the centre of a day-long protest by anganwadi workers from Mumbai district, at Azad Maidan. "We bear the responsibility for children aged six months to six years. We also raise awareness among parents to ensure these children receive nutritious food," said Sangeeta Kamble, general secretary of the Anganwadi Employees' Union (CITU Maharashtra). Anganwadi workers claim the THR, which includes nutritional powder and ready-to-cook premixes, allegedly contains contaminants including rat droppings, while excessive turmeric and poor ingredient quality have also been reported. They say nearly 80% of children and parents discard the food because of its poor quality. The day-long strike ended with anganwadi workers meeting VR Thakur, joint secretary of the women and child development department. Kamble said, "Thakur agreed to check the quality of THR and increase incentives for anganwadi workers." HT's attempts to contact Thakur went unanswered. Dr Abhay Shukla, public health expert and member of the Nutrition Rights Coalition, said the problem is not new. "The first review was conducted in seven tribal districts of Maharashtra in 2015 by the Nutrition Rights Coalition, along with various NGOs. We found that even after cooking the powder and khichdi premix for around 25 minutes, it was not edible," he said. "In the survey, nearly 90% of parents said they were using the food as animal feed. When the condition of the premix was reviewed again in 2025, the beneficiaries gave a similar response," Shukla said. Kamble said the quality of the food is particularly worrying as the state is observing Nutrition Week. "The ready-to-cook khichdi mix comes with oil already added, which gives it a stale smell. Young children refuse to even taste it. Similarly, pregnant women avoid consuming the nutritional powder provided to them," she said. In Mumbai, members of women's self-help groups involved in supplying food to anganwadis had joined the protest at Azad Maidan. These groups receive Rs.8 per student per day for providing 50 grams of breakfast and 150 grams of a main meal. Breakfast includes rajgira or kurmura ladoos, chivda and other edibles. Indutai Shinde, an activist associated with one of these groups, said the sum is insufficient to meet rising costs. "The price of raw materials has increased sharply. It is not possible to provide nutritious food at Rs.8 per child. We are demanding that the sum be increased to at least Rs.24 per student," she said. The Maharashtra Consumer Federation supplies provisions to anganwadi workers across the state. Workers receive only 65 paise per student as a cooking allowance and expenses such as vegetables and fuel are meant to be covered. They said payments are sometimes delayed by up to six months....