Meerut/Bijnor: After a long wait of nearly four months after the instructions of distributing a fruit in midday meals to the students were passed, students of UP government-aided schools got a banana each on Monday. Schools reopened on July 1 but the attendance was not very high – but on Monday it shot up from 25% to 50% in most of the schools. The initiative of distributing a fruit to each student on Monday was started to increase the nutritious diet of students and also to increase the attendance on Mondays, when it is usually low.Harpreet Kaur, officiating principal, primary school, Prabhat Nagar, Meerut, said, “The kids were very happy to get a banana each today. The meal included chapatti-sabzi, which is rare. Most meals are daliya, pulao and daal-rice, so kids liked the meal today. When the schools reopened on Friday, only 25 students turned up out of 100, but on Monday, because most of them knew that they would get a fruit, the attendance shot up to 50 students.”Instructions to provide a fruit every Monday had been given by chief secretary (basic) Ashish Goel in March, when he had instructed that Rs 4 was to be spent per child for this initiative. It was also declared that fruits which did not need to be cut, or could be easily peeled by children, were to be selected.“All of us were excited to get a fruit in our midday meal and so, though I didn’t turn up on Friday, I made it a point to come to school on Monday. Also, the food that was served was a completely new menu, as it had chapattis,” said Roshni (who goes by her first name), a student of Class III.The main reason behind giving fruits was stated to be an expectation that attendance would rise while being beneficial for children’s health. The day for fruits was chosen to be Monday because it was found out in a survey that Mondays see only 50% of attendance, compared to 70% on other days.“In Bijnor, the student turnout improved from 25% on Friday to 55% on Monday just because fruits were being served to the students. Seasonal fruits will be given to the kids and it will also ensure that students don’t remain malnourished,” said Sanjay Kushwaha, basic shiksha adhikari, Bijnor.Meanwhile, authorities ensured that fruits were distributed judiciously by going on checks in various schools. Mohd Iqbal, basic shiksha adhikari, Meerut, said, “District officials were asked to be present at various schools to ensure that fruits are distributed among students. This also helped in making more people aware about this initiative.”