CHAPTER-2

Mid-day-meal an Overview

59
 CHAPTER-2
MID-DAY-MEAL AN OVERVIEW

INTRODUTION

Mid-Day Meal Scheme is one of the main schemes which is launched by

Central Government of India with a view of enhancing enrolment, retention,

attendance and simultaneously improving nutrition level among students.

MDM Scheme was initiated on the basis of the philosophy that "when children

have to sit in class with empty stomach, they cannot focus on learning”. Mid

Day Meal Scheme had proved to be an effective means to check high dropout

rates of children from economically weaker sections, while also addressing

their nutritional needs.

MID-DAY-MEAL PROGRAMME

The children of today are the citizens of tomorrow. The National Progaramme

of National Support to Primary Education (NPNSPE) commonly known as

‘Mid- Day Meal Scheme’ (MDMS) for the children is a part of making the

school attractive so that they assume the school as their second home. Initially

the provision of Mid-Day Meal was regarded as a part of charity; over a period

of time, it came to be regarded as an aspect of child welfare. Still later, it came

to be perceived as a component of child development programme and

thereafter the nutritional improvement approach began to attain more attention

at the hands of planers1. Nutrition Support to Primary Education popularly

referred to as Mid Day Meal programme (MDM) is considered as a means of

promoting improved enrolment, school attendance and retention. MDM seeks

60
to provide for each school child roughly a third of the daily nutrient

requirement in the form of a hot fresh cooked meal. It is sometimes argued

that in the case of children of poor households, the school meal may become a

substitute rather than a supplement for the home meal. It is important to note

that it is not merely the long-term effects of the school meal on the nutritional

status but its Short-Term Effects on better attention, memory and learning that

is important. There are several published reports based on well-conducted

studies pointing to these beneficial short-term effects of the school meal on

learning ability. ‘A hungry child is a poor learner’ lacking in concentration. A

mid day meal is an important instrument for combating classroom hunger and

promoting better learning. Many children reach school with an empty stomach

in the morning, since a good early morning breakfast is not a part of the

household routine. Under these circumstances it is important to acknowledge

the Short Term Effects of MDM on learning. MDM could thus be a means for

not only promoting school enrollment but also better learning in schools. With

children from all castes and communities eating together, it is also

instrumental in bringing about better social integration. MDM could serve the

important purpose of improving school enrollment and attendance especially

girls thus contributing to gender equality. With MDM, it will be easier for

parents to persuade their children to go to school and for teachers to retain

children in the classrooms. MDM can also contribute to gender equality by

reducing the gender gap in education by boosting female attendance in school.

Most importantly MDM could trigger all round development of the entire

school system-leading to better infrastructures in schools, teaching facilities,

School Health Service and community involvement. 2

61
IMPORTANCE OF MID-DAY MEAL PROGRAMME

Feeding is widely perceived as an expression of love. Giving and sharing of

food can do more to foster friendship and affection than the most eloquent

religious sermon. Provision of cooked Mid-Day Meal in secondary schools

makes the school environment less hostile for the child. The school

environment is often stifling and unfriendly; verbal humiliation and physical

brutality is common and children rarely enjoy gestures of appreciation or

encouragement from the teacher. In such a scenario, Mid Day Meal can play

an important role in lifting up the spirit of the children at school. The parent,

the local community, the local self governing body (village

Panchayat/municipal corporation, the state government, the union/national

government and international agencies) both official and voluntary have taken

the initiative to organize the Mid Day Meal Programme (MDMP) not only for

improving the health status of children but also for enhancing their

participation in school education, targeting at increasing their overall

enrolment, retention, attendance and achievement. Mid-Day Meal also helps to

reduce gender gap in education, protecting children from classroom hunger

and fostering a sense of social equality besides imparting nutritional education.

In India, on account of widespread poverty, illiteracy, lack of awakening and

also demand for formal school education, the mid –day meal for school child

has been assuming certain level of significance. 3

MID-DAY MEAL MOTIVATES SCHOOL CHILDREN

The Mid-day Meal Programme (MDMP) for the children was initially viewed

as an ‘act of charity’. Over a period of time, it came to be considered as an

62
‘item of child welfare’. Still later, it was regarded as ‘a component of child

development’ and ushered in nutritional approach. Much more recently it was

perceived as part of ‘a movement to make the school attractive’ for the child

and ‘to enhance the environment for learning in the school’. The parents, the

local community, the local self-governing body in the form of Gram

Panchayat, Municipality or Corporation, the State and Union Government, and

International Organizations (official and voluntary) have come forward to

initiate or support Mid-Day Meal Programmes for the purpose of not only

improving children’s health but also increasing their school participation in

terms of enrolment, regularity in attendance and performance leading to

certain levels of achievement of objectives of school education. Driven by the

force of Articles 45, Directive Principles of State Policy of the Constitution,

the Education Commission/ Committee Reports, and Policy/ Plan/ Programme

Documents have recommended several incentive schemes such as MDM, Free

Textbooks/Stationery, Free Uniform, Attendance Scholarship etc. towards the

objective of Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) and

Universalization of Primary Education (UPE) as a matter of priority. While

planning, we must evaluate this incentive programme in terms of their cost-

effectiveness and cost-benefit for the beneficiary population. Educational

researchers and planners are obliged to suggest ways to maximize the returns

on public investment in basic education and when the returns on certain

programmes are not satisfactory, they should suggest alternative strategies for

fulfilling the national aspirations and goals in this respect. 4

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROGRAMME:-

63
The main objectives of the programme are:

(a) To increase enrolment, retention and to tone up the learning abilities of

the beneficiaries, especially of children belonging to poor and down

trodden sections of the society;

(b) To provide nutritious meal to the school going children to achieve the

goal of healthy mind in healthy body;

(c) To promote friendship and feelings of common brotherhood among the

children belonging to different caste, colour and creed by providing

meals to them together and also to increase their retention in schools.

Also, the Mid-Day Meal Scheme is viewed as an opportunity to

inculcate hygiene and sanitation practices among children.

(d) Encouraging poor children, belonging to disadvantaged sections, to

attend school more regularly and help they concentrate on classroom

activities.

(e) Providing nutritional support to children of primary stage in draught

affected areas during summer vacation. 5

CAUSES OF THE MDM PROGRAMME

• Promoting school participation: Mid day meals have big effects on

school participation, not just in terms of getting more children enrolled in

the registers but also in terms of regular pupil attendance on a daily basis.

• Preventing classroom hunger: Many children reach school with an

empty stomach. Even children, who have a meal before they leave for

school, get hungry by the afternoon and are not able to concentrate -
64
 especially children from families who cannot give them a lunch box or

are staying a long distance away from the school. Mid day meal can help

to overcome this problem by preventing “classroom hunger ”.

• Facilitating the healthy growth of children : Mid day meal can also act

as a regular source of “supplementary nutrition” for children, and

facilitate their healthy growth.

• Intrinsic educational value: A well-organized mid day meal can be used

as an opportunity to impart various good habits to children (such as

washing one’s hands before and after eating), and to educate them about

the importance of clean water, good hygiene and other related matters.

• Fostering social equality: Mid day meal can help to spread egalitarian

values, as children from various social backgrounds learn to sit together

and share a common meal. In particular, mid day meal can help to break

the barriers of caste and class among school children. Appointing cooks

from Dalit communities is another way of teaching children to overcome

caste prejudices.

• Enhancing gender equity: The gender gap in school participation tends

to narrow, as the Mid Day Meal Scheme helps erode the barriers that

prevent girls from going to school. Mid Day Meal Scheme also provides

a useful source of employment for women, and helps to liberate working

women from the burden of cooking at home during the day. In these and

other ways, women and girl children have a special Stake in Mid Day

Meal Scheme.

65
• Psychological benefits: Physiological deprivation leads to low self-

esteem, consequent insecurity, anxiety and stress. The Mid Day Meal

Scheme can help to address this and facilitate cognitive, emotional and

social development.6

MAJOR EVENTS & IDEOLOGICAL

The world conference on ‘Education for All ’was held in March 1990 at

Jomtien in Thailand. It was organized by the UNESCO, UNDP and the World

Bank and was attended by 155 members’ states of the UN system and several

donor agencies. A declaration was adopted calling upon member states and

international agencies to take effective steps to achieve EFA by the years

2000. The EFA decade, 1990-2000, witnessed many significant events and

development in India as well as in abroad. The Mass Literacy Campaigns

(MLC) which became active in about 500 districts and the launching of the

literacy mission awakened the adult community. The CARE set up a special

committee in 1993 to formulate a framework for decentralization. This

committee took it up further and suggested setting up of Village Education

Committee and Panchayat Samiti on Education at the block level. In this trend

of growing self-governance the MDMP started yielding returns in terms of

cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness. The District Primary Education

Programme (DPEP) was launched in 1993 with assistance of the World Bank.

The district became the unit of planning development and monitoring,

involving participation of people at all levels. Priority was given to low female

literacy. The MDMP became a regular feature in this process. The Lok

Jumbish Project of Rajasthan utilizing micro-level planning having the block

66
as the basic unit and people were more closely associated. It covers 100 blocks

in 13 districts with support from the Swedish International Development

Association (SIDA). The International Education Committee met again after

six years of the declaration of EFA in Amman in June, 1996 to evaluate the

progress made since Jomtein. At the International level, the UNDP

incorporated basic education as a component of the Human Development

Index. The above said events as well as development in different states of

India and international development relating to basic have education brought

about a sea- change in global perception of the issue of UEE, from an

obligation of the state to its people, it has been transferred to that of a moral

commitment of the society and state for their own future. The provision of

MDM will became the path of enhancing the learning environment.

RECOMMENDATION FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION

(Based on deliberations of the National Advisory Council on August, 28 th

2004)

(a) A minimum norm of Rs. 2 per child per day for “conversion cost” should

be introduced all over the country.

(b) Adequate resources should be made available to enable the Ministry of

Human Resource Development (MHRD) to implement its proposal for

assistance to mid-day meals i.e. ‘one rupee per child per day’ up to v

class from September, 1st 2004, one rupee per child per day up to viii

from November, 14th 2004 and related support.

67
(c) Strict instruction should be issued to affect that central assistance for

Mid–Day Meal is intended as a supplement to the resources already

provided by state government and not as a substitute for them.

(d) The arrangement whereby grains are provided free of cost to state

governments though the FCI should continue.

(e) A high level Expert Group should be formed to review “National

Programme of Nutrition Support for Primary Education’’(NPNSPE) in

the light of supreme court orders and recent experiences in different

states.

MINIMUM QUALITY NORMS FOR ALL MID-DAY MEAL

SCHEMES THROUGH EXPERT GROUP:

(a) Nutritious hot cooked meal: Nutritious, Cooked meals should be

provided throughout the year. The menu should offer variety to sustain the

interest of children and to enhance the nutritional value of the meal.

(b) Micro-nutrient supplementation: All mid day meal programmers should

include a “micronutrient supplement” component, to address common

micronutrient deficiencies among children.

(c) Adequate manpower: Every school should have trained staff to provide

Mid Day Meal with no interference to the normal school routine. Each

school should have at least a cook and helper.

(d) Drinking water: Each school should have a reliable supply of clean

drinking water within the premises.

68
(e) Kitchen and storage: Each school should have adequate infrastructure for

MDM, including a kitchen and a separate storage place.

(f) Logistics management: Reliable arrangements for timely delivery of grain

and other supplies should be in place.

(g) Adequate utensils: Each school should have necessary utensils including

vessels for cooking, and plates.

(h) Supervision and monitoring : Effective arrangements should be made for

close supervision and monitoring of MDM programme, and prompt action

in the events of causes such as food poisoning, disruption in food supply,

social discrimination.

(i) Social equality: All cooking staff should be women and preference should

be given to Dalits. There should be no discrimination based on the social

background of children or cooking staff.

(j) School health programme: The MDM programme should be linked with

an active school health programme. 7

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

The school lunch programme (SLP) was launched for the first time in the

world at the instance of a Frenchman Victor Hugo in 1865, for the children of

France. Some voluntary organizations introduced SLP in England and

Germany before World War I.8 In India, the School Lunch Programme (SLP)

was first introduced in Madras by the Corporation for Children belonging to

poor families; SLP was introduced in some parts of Kerala in 1941 followed

by Bombay in 1942. MDMP of supplying cooked rice and yogurt was started

69
in Bangalore in 1946. Uttar Pradesh commenced the programme on a

voluntary basis in 1953 and the meal consisted of roasted or sprouted gram,

ground-nut, puffed rice, boiled potatoes or seasoned fruit. Many states came

forward to implement MDM programme, when assistance from international

agencies such as UNICEF, FAQ and WHO became available.

International non-governmental organizations such as Catholic Relief Service

(CRS), Church World Service, and USA’s Meals for Millions Association also

entered the field providing assistance. Co-operative of American Relief

Everywhere (CARE) initiated its assistance to MDMP in 1961 in the states of

Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It began supply of food commodities under PL 480

TITLE II Programme. It extended the programmme to twelve states in India in

course of time. During the first year of its operation, it benefited 2.4 million

children. Under the MDMP, all the states covered only the weaker sections of

population viz. children from poor families, Scheduled Caste (SC) and

Scheduled Tribes (ST). The procedure adopted for covering the children

varied from state to state. In 1990-91, seventeen state governments were

running the MDMP for primary school children of 6-11 age groups with

varying levels of coverage. Twelve states conducted the programme with their

own resources. Three states managed partly with their resources and with

assistance from CARE. Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan implemented the

programme with CARE's assistance and discontinued the scheme after CARE

withdrew its support.9

NATIONAL PROGRAMME FOR NUTRITIONAL

SUPPORT
70
The government of India introduced the National Programme for Nutritional

Support to Primary Education (NPNSPE) from 1995-96. NPNSPE envisaged a

full coverage, in a phased manner over a period of three years i.e. 1995-96 to

1997-98, of students studying in primary classes (I to IV/V) in all government-

aided schools in the country. The programme covered 2499 blocks during

1995-96; 4426 blocks during 1996-97 and 5451 blocks during 1997-98. By

December 31,th 1998 it covered 504 districts. It was expected to benefit 974.5

lakh students across 6.85 lakh schools. The programme provides the state with

the option of giving nutritional support in the form of any one of the following

alternatives: I) cooked meal (100 gram per day for 200 school days): ii)

precooked meals or iii) 3 kgs of wheat/rice per child per month for ten months.

In the states opting for the provision of cooked meals, the central assistance is

limited to the provision of food grains viz. rice/wheat. Expenditure on other

items is borne by the respective state. Presently cooked meals are served in

Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. In Delhi and Chandigarh

processed food (viz. sweet bread) is distributed. In the rest of States/UTs food

grains are being distributed. Food Corporation of India (FCI) is responsible for

releasing the required food grains to the States/UTs. 10

EXPANSION OF THE MID DAY MEAL PROGRAMME

The 93rd Amendment Bill makes education for children in the 6-14 year age

group a fundamental right. If the government is to achieve the stated

objectives of this Bill, it should introduce the right incentives to attract the

children to the school instead of burdening parents with the fundamental duty

of providing educational opportunities to their children. The move by the

71
government to set up parallel and cheaper schooling options to fulfill its

constitutional obligations, will not be enough if the 110 million children who

continue to languish outside the classrooms are to be enrolled in the schools. If

these poor children are to be lured to the schools, the government should

extend the Mid-day Meal Programme to all the primary schools in the country.

In one of the research studies on mid-day meal schemes, the parents and

school children who expressed their preferences among four major incentive

schemes (Mid-day Meal, Free Textbooks, Free Uniforms and Attendance

Scholarship) placed Mid-day Meal as the most sought after incentive. The

Mid-day Meal Programme has actually reduced the dropout rate in many of

the schools that have been surveyed. Realizing the importance of the Mid-day

Meal Programme, the Bangalore Mahanagar Palika has decided to implement

the scheme from the next academic year, covering students of nursery and

primary schools managed by it. Because of the positive impact of the Mid-day

Meal Programme on the school children, the Central government should give a

serious thought to the scheme and remove the prevalent deficiencies. Central

government allotted 8.23 lakh MTs of wheat and 16.57 lakh MTs of rice to the

states to implement this scheme, of this, only 4.014 lakh MTs of wheat and

11.179 lakh MTs of rice were lifted. This obviously shows the lack of

enthusiasm for this scheme. With lakhs of tonnes of food grains rotting in the

godwns, the Central Government should extend the Mid-day Meal Programme

to as many schools as possible, if only to retain the poor children in schools

and educate them.11

72
THE SUPREME COURT DIRECTION

In April 2001 People’s Union for Civil Liberties (Rajasthan) initiated the new

famous right to food litigation. This public interest litigation has covered a

large range of issues related to right to food, but the best known intervention

by the court is on Mid-day meals. In one of its many direction in the litigation

the Supreme Court directed the government to fully implement its scheme of

providing cooked meals to all children in primary schools. This landmark

direction converted the Midday Meal Scheme into a legal entitlement, the

violation of which can be taken up in the court of law. The directions and

further follow-up by the Supreme Court has been a major instrument in

universalizing the scheme.12

MAKING MID DAY MEAL MORE MEANINGFUL

Though the Supreme Court, on November 28th, 2001, directed all state

governments to introduce cooked mid-day meals within six months, some of

the states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are yet to comply with the order. Even

in those states where the scheme is being implemented, the scene is not very

encouraging, Tamil Nadu, of course, is an exception. Apart from enhancing

school enrolment and boosting school attendance, mid-day meals have an

important socialization value as children learn to sit together and share a

common meal resulting in the erosion of caste prejudices and class inequality.

Unfortunately, however, according to a survey conducted by the Centre for

Equity Studies, New Delhi, the mid-day meal scheme has a long way to go

before the desired results can be achieved. To make this scheme more

meaningful, the following measures should be taken up on a priority basis. a)

73
More financial resources should be allocated for the scheme to enhance the

quality of mid-day meals; b) the infrastructure for the scheme should be

improved to avoid disruption of classroom processes and ensure hygiene; c)

the monitoring system should be strengthened to eradicate corruption and

pilferage of food; d) incidents of social discrimination should be firmly dealt

with; e) clear guidelines for the selection of cooks; guidelines should not only

be issued but should also be enforced; f) in states like Rajasthan where there is

resistance to the appointment of Dalit cooks, an education programme should

be launched to break the traditional prejudices and promote social change; g)

laggard states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where school attendance and

nutritional levels are extremely low, should be persuaded to intimate the

scheme. Lack of financial resources should not come in the way of this social

movement. Can; there be a better use of public funds today than the provision

of mid-day meal in primary schools. All that needs is the political will to

implement this scheme that will ensure healthy human resource – a basic input

for national development. After all, only a healthy nation can claim to be a

wealthy nation.13

EXTENSION TO UPPER PRIMARY STAGE

The Finance Minister has announced in the Union Budget 2007-08 that the

Mid-Day Meal Scheme will be extended to cover children in Upper Primary

Classes in 3427 Educationally Backwards Blocks (EBBs) in 2007-08. A

Budget provision of Rs.7324 cores has been made for this purpose,

representing 37% increase over the budget for 2006-07.14

74
MDM IN PUNJAB STATE

INTRODUCTION:

The splendid state of Punjab lies in Northern part of India. Punjab is

dominated by Sikh/Punjabi community with more than 60% population. Rest

of the population represents Hindu, Muslims, Christians, Jains, and other

communities. The Punjabi language also known as Gurumukhi is the official

language of Punjab. Punjab is a leading state of India with agricultural

production and per capita income. Jats Sikhs form a larger part of Sikh

community in Punjab. Their main occupation is believed to be agriculture and

its related work. Population of Punjab is growing at a good rate every year

from the time of Independence. The population of Punjab in 1991 was

estimated to be 20.19 million. It reached further up to 24.3 million by the end

of 2001. Around 20% of total Population in Punjab is migratory from other

regions of India. The literacy rate in Punjab stands at 75% which is quiet

descent. Agriculture is the main source of income of the people in Punjab.

About 66% of the population in Punjab lives rural area. Another important

factor related to Population of Punjab is its ever declining sex ratio. In the last

20 years, it has gone down very rapidly. According to recent figures, there are

only 850 females per 1000 males in Punjab.15 Education plays a vital and

important role in fulfilling the basic needs of a common man viz. food, shelter

and clothing. The main aim of education is to prepare and develop the child

physically, mentally and spiritually to lead a quality life. Education is a

process through which a child is made capable to attain the necessary

competencies and skills to face the challenges in life to survive, and to make
75
struggle for existence. Four important factors are identified for achieving the

goal of Education for All. These are Access to Education, Enrolment of

Children, and Retention of the Enrolled Children and Achievement. Mid- day

Meal scheme is an effort to achieve and facilitate all the four above said

objectives. Various schemes were implemented in the primary education

sector by the Government to reach the disadvantaged population. Access to

primary education was universalized through flagship programmes of Govt.

like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, however, despite this; a few children are still

deprived of Primary Education due to inability of their parents to send them to

schools because of their poor economical status. For, these parents, sending

their children to school means not only incurring extra financial burden but

also depriving them of some money which their children would have earned

otherwise by doing labour. That being the attitude of these economically

backward parents, one may perhaps to motivate the parents and children to

bring their children to school by providing food and nutritional needs.

Government of India, on Oct 2 nd 1995, launched the scheme of National

Programme of Nutritional Support to primary education also known as Mid-

day-Meal Programme. Under this scheme, students of primary classes were to

be provided wheat @ 3 kg per student per month (for 10 months in a year)

subject to 80% attendance. Meanwhile, the apex court also intervened and

vides its orders dated November 28th, 2001 the Supreme Court directed:-

“1- We direct the State Government/Union Territories to implement the Mid-

day-Meal Scheme by providing every child in every Government and

Government Assisted primary schools with a prepared Mid-Day Meal with

76
minimum contents of 300 calories of energy and 8-12 grams of protein each

day of school for a minimum of 200 days. Those Governments, who are

providing dry rations instead of cooked meals, must within 3 months start

providing cooked meals in all Government Aided primary schools in all half

the districts of the state (in order of poverty) and must within a further period

of 3 months extend the provisions of cooked meals to the remaining parts of

the state.

2- We direct the Union of India and the FCI to ensure provision of fair average

quality grain for the scheme on time. The State/Union Territories and the FCI

are directed to do joint inspection of food grains. If the food grains is found on

joint inspection, not to be of fair, Mid-day-3 Meal Scheme, Punjab Annual

Work Plan & Budget 2012-13 average qualities, it will be replaced by the FCI

prior to lifting”.

Like many other states, Punjab could not switch over to cooked meal scheme

from the very beginning due to certain reasons inter alia due to paucity of

funds involved in the conversion of food grains to cooked meal. However, in

compliance with the Supreme Court’s order dated 28- 11-2001, cooked meal

was provided to the children of primary classes in one block in every district

of Punjab during the year 2002-03. The Govt. of Punjab started providing

cooked meal to all the students of primary classes in Govt. schools with effect

from September, 2004 and for this purpose, a sum of Rs. 666.00 lacs during

the financial year 2004-05 was released to the Deputy Commissioners, who

are also the Chairmen of the District level Steering-cum-Monitoring

Committee for implementation of this scheme at district level. During the

77
financial year 2005-06, a sum of Rs. 1309.86 lacs was released to the Deputy

Commissioners as conversion cost for providing cooked meal to the students

in the Government and Government-Aided private schools under the scheme.

Subsequently, it was extended to children enrolled under Education Guarantee

Scheme (EGS) and Alternative Innovative Education (AIE) centers working

under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Programme. 16

CRITICISM OF MDM PROGRAMME

The Mid-day Meal scheme in rural areas of Punjab has failed to achieve the

goal of Universalization of Elementary Education as prescribed by the UN

Millennium Development Goals (2000) and followed by Government of India.

Total enrollment of selected schools belonging to three districts, namely

Amritsar, Tarn Taran, and Gurdaspur, was 33085 during the base year

(average of 2007 to 2009). This enrollment declined to 31667 during the

current year (average of 2010-12). Almost similar decline with varying degree

was noticed in all the three selected districts. However, the decline in

enrollment of girl students was slightly more than their boys’ counterpart.

Moreover, the enrollment in primary standard of the selected districts of Rural

Punjab has declined by 2.35 per cent which is attributed to the bogus

admission made in the base period. In Upper Primary Section, Base year

Enrollment was10583 and Current year Enrollment was 11124. However, the

enrollment in the upper primary standard has shown an improvement (the

percentage change in the enrollment was 105.11). 17 Mid-day meal scheme

was introduced across the country to ensure that children come to schools

regularly and that is what exactly is not happening in the home district of

78
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. If authorities are to be believed, Muktsar

district is in the list of 144 districts of the country, where the implementation

of the Mid-day meal scheme is poor - a conclusion made on the basis of large-

scale absenteeism among the students. Low attendance of students in the

government schools of Muktsar district is not allowing the authorities to meet

the parameters set under the mid-day meal. The Manager of the Mid-day meal

in Muktsar district, Jaswant Singh Chabbra, said that he has been instructing

the government schools every month to ensure maximum attendance of

students so that the targets of the mid-day meal scheme can be achieved. “We

inspect schools regularly and send letters to 20 to 25 schools every month

asking the heads to ensure attendance of students. There are around 550

schools in the district where mid-day meal scheme is implemented,” said

Chabbra. There is problem especially with the primary school children as they

skip the school regularly for various reasons. Low attendance creates problem

in proper implementation of the scheme,” he said. Experts say that failure of

the mid-day meal scheme reflects that something is missing in the education

system in the Muktsar district. As published earlier in these columns, a survey

team working for Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) had presented a

gloomy picture on the status of education in Muktsar. The team has found that

the students in Muktsar district lack basic knowledge. The survey team has

claimed that Muktsar district has basic infrastructure in the schools but

majority of students can't write a straight sentence in their mother tongue and

were unable to solve simple mathematics problem. “Mid-day Meal scheme has

come out as the mirror of the failure of Education System in the District. If

children are not coming to the schools, little can be achieved from the
79
facilities;18 despite the success of the program, child hunger as a problem

persists in India. According to current statistics, 42.5% of the children under 5

are underweight. This is due to simple reasons such as not using iodized salt.

“India is home to the world’s largest food insecure population, with more than

500 million people who are hungry,” India State Hunger Index (ISHI) said,

adding that the country’s poor performance is driven by its high levels of child

under-nutrition and poor calorie count. “Their rate of child malnutrition is

higher than most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa,” it noted. A report released

as part of the 2009 Global Hunger Index ranks India at 65 out of 84 countries.

The 2008 report says that India has more people suffering from hunger – a

figure above 200 million – than any other country in the world, it says. The

report also says "improving child nutrition is of utmost urgency in most Indian

states. 19
".

An overview of Mid- Day Meal Scheme: After taking an overview in this

chapter, we will take a look at Girl Children in Government Girls Senior

Secondary School, Giddarbaha, and Punjab: An introduction in the next

chapter.

Conclusion

In our study we may conclude that Mid-Day Meal is popular programme and

is the most widely received incentive by school children. It certainly has the

potential to improve the nutritional standard, general health, enrolment,

attendance, retention in the educational cycle and learning achievement of the

beneficiary-children. Besides, it can improve the food habits and social

adjustments of children, who are receiving the cooked meal in the scheme.
80
The overall cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness of the national programme can

be hiked by coordinating the involvement of all the relevant stake-holders

more effectively. The National Progaramme of National Support to Primary

Education (NPNSPE) commonly known as Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS)

for the children is a part of making the school attractive so that they assume

the school as their second home like many other states. Punjab cannot switch

over to cooked meal scheme from the very beginning due to certain reasons

inter alia due to paucity of funds involved in the conversion of food grains to

cooked meal. However, in compliance with the Supreme Court’s order dated

November 28th 2001, cooked meal was provided to the children of primary

classes in one block in every district of Punjab during the year 2002-03. The

Govt. of Punjab started providing cooked meal to all the students of primary

classes in Govt. schools. The Mid-day Meal Scheme will be extended to cover

children in Upper Primary Classes in 3427 Educationally Backwards Blocks

(EBBs) in 2007-08. The Mid-day Meal scheme in rural areas of Punjab has

failed to achieve the goal of Universalization of Elementary Education as

prescribed by the UN Millennium Development Goals (2000) and followed by

Government of India.

81
REFERENCE

1. A thesis on impact of Mid day meal programme on enrolment and

retention of girls studying in primary school of Jaipur division in

education supervision by Meena Sirola researcher Deepica Yadav, p-

10.

2. http://megpid.gov.in/evalution/MDM-FINAL-REPORT Accessed on

2 may 2012.

3. A thesis on impact of mid day meal programme on enrolment and

retention of girls studying in primary school of Jaipur division in

education supervision by Meena Sirola researcher Deepica Yadav, p-

10-11.

4. Article, by Pro M. Raghuram Singh, Mid-Day- Meal Motivates School

Children, Edutracks, April 2002, p 6, 7.

5 .http://www.archive.india.gov.in/sectors/education/index.php?id=7

Accessed on 21 may 2012

6 http://pib.nic.in/archieve/flagship/bkg_mdm1.pdf Accessed on

21may2013

7. A thesis on impact of Mid day meal programme on enrolment and

retention of girls studying in primary school of Jaipur division in

education supervision by Meena Sirola researcher Deepica Yadav, p-

16-17.

8. A thesis on Impact of Mid day meal programme on enrolment and

retention of girls studying in primary school of Jaipur division in

82
 education supervision by Meena Sirola researcher Deepica Yadav, p-

11.

9. Article, by pro M. Raghuram Singh, Mid-Day- Meal Motivates School

Children, Edutracks, April 2002, p 7.

10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midday_Meal_Scheme Accessed on20

June 2012

11. Article, by G.S Reddy, Expand the Mid-day Meal Programme,

Edutracks, April 2002, P, 1

12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midday_Meal_Scheme, Accessed on 20

June 2012

13. Article, by G.S Reddy, Making Mid-day Meal More Meaningful,

Edutracks, April 2003, p 1

14. http://www.archive.india.gov.in/sectors/education/index.php?id=7

Accessed on 23march 2014

15. http://www.indiaonlinepages.com/population/punjab-

population.htmlPunjab's Population 2013 Accessed on23march2014

16. http://mdm.nic.in/Files/PAB/PAB2013-14/Punjab/Writeup-Punjab-

2013-14.pdf Accessed on 3 June 2013

17. http://www.schoolchoice.in/blog/?p=5204 Accessed on 2 Feb. 2013

18. http://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/bathinda/mid-day-meal-

scheme-off-target-in-muktsar/article1-1136963.aspx Accessed

on23march2014

19. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midday_Meal_Scheme#Criticism Accessed

on 22 may 2013

83