Guwahati, Jan 2 : The Assam government's Education Department has instructed to provide only simple vegetarian food to evaluators who are set to join a state-wide assessment drive for the students in the schools. The assessment drive, named 'Gunotsav', will be carried out by the government in more than 43,000 schools across the state. Nearly 40 lakh students will take part in the exercise. A total of 18,098 external evaluators will be deployed across Assam in the assessment drive. Meanwhile, a letter from the state Education Department mentioned that no schools will be allowed to serve other than simple vegetarian food to the external evaluators. A letter signed by Mission Director of Samagra Shiksha in Assam stated that the schools are instructed for the arrangement of simple vegetarian food for the external evaluators on the day of evaluation. Moreover, it has also been said that schools are directed not to arrange any felicitation for the external evaluators. Meanwhile, Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu said on Tuesday that the assessment drive will help in ensuring quality education in the state with improved learning outcomes. He said: "Across 35 districts of the state, 43,498 government schools will conduct the exercise, encompassing 39,63,542 students." The minister said that Gunotsav will witness the involvement of all stakeholders, including educators, learners, administrators, and local communities, strengthening accountability among them for high-quality education. The exercise this year will take place in three stages -- 12 districts will compete in the first round from January 3-6, 13 districts in the second round from January 9-12, and the last 10 districts in the third and final leg from February 5-8. For this, a total of 18,098 external evaluators will be stationed throughout Assam. Among the people who will visit the schools as external evaluators are the chief minister, MLAs, the chief secretary, among others. /IANS