Delicacies conceived by celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor may soon be on the platter of students studying in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas. Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani today said her ministry has decided to rope in Kapoor to prepare menu of food to be served at all Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and to train the cooks of these residential schools.

According to Irani, the decision has been taken with an aim to provide best facilities to the students of Navodaya schools, which are run by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

"Bright students from humble family background take admission in these boarding schools. To provide facilities parallel to private boarding schools, we have decided to rope in celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor to prepare the menu of the food served in these schools," she said at the foundation stone laying ceremony of a JNV at Hathijan village near Ahmedabad.

"Apart from preparing the menu of these schools, Kapoor will also provide training to all the cooks of these boarding schools. Our aim is to make students feel that they are studying in a school which is no less than a private boarding school," the minister said.

Navodaya Vidyalayas, affiliated to the CBSE, offer free education to meritorious students, mainly from rural areas, from Class-VI to XII.