With schools in Odisha likely to reopen this month, given the improvement in the Covid-19
situation, the state government has decided to gift students 'Happiness kits' -- comprising
peanuts, jaggery, chickpeas among other items -- to boost their immunity.The distribution, set to
begin during the first week of February, would cover five districts in the initial phase -- Khurda,
Cuttack, Puri, Nayagarh, and Sundargarh, an official said on Monday.
What do happiness kits contain? "Each kit would contain nutritious food items, such as wheat,
turmeric powder, peanuts, jaggery, chickpeas, cinnamon, cardamom, biscuits. These apart,
stationery items, including pen, pencil, notepad, sanitary napkin, toothpaste, iodised salt and
soap, would also be a part of the kit," he said.

According to School and Mass Education Minister SR Dash, at least 1.83 lakh children of 1,916
schools, spread over the five districts, will benefit from the initiative in the first phase. The
programme would later be extended to other districts of the state, he said. "In all, 30 lakh
children of 60,000 schools would be able to avail the kit," the minister added.
Official sources said the state government has approved a proposal to assign the kit distribution
job to Akshaya Patra Foundation, which supplies mid-day meals to schools.
(With inputs from agencies)