Mid day meals (India)

8/14/2019 Mid day meals (India)

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Brief History

MG Ramachandran extended middaymeals to all primary school in Tamil

Nadu

Existed in Tamil Nadu since the1960s

In 1995, Government of Indiaimplemented it as the National

Programme of Nutritional Support toPrimary Education

Many states provided only dry

rations until 2001

Cooked meals only provided in

Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and

parts of Madhya Pradesh and Orissa


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The Right to food case*

On 28 November, 2001 the Supreme Court issuedthe following order:

implement the Mid-Day Meal Scheme by providingevery child in every government and governmentassisted primary school with a prepared mid-daymeal with a minimum content of 300 calories and 8-12 grams of protein each day of school for a

minimum of 200 days

* Officially, Peoples Union for Civil Liberties vs Union of India andOthers,Writ Petition (Civil) No 196 of 2001. Seewww.righttofoodindia.orgfor more details.
http://www.righttofoodindia.org/http://www.righttofoodindia.org/


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MDM Implementation status in 2003

Source: Drze and Goyal (2003)


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Status today

Beneficiaries

All states provide cooked meals to all primary

school children

In 2006, 130 million children got cooked foodeveryday

Costs per child per day

Rs. 2.21 in 2004

Rs. 3.06 in 2006


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What students and parents say

about the MDM

The school bisi oota is as good as whatmy mother cooks.

Roopa, a pupil of Standard 4.

My children say they like the food. In fact,they actually like going to school now.

Bhagyamma, a Dalit housewife

Source: Parvathi Menon (2003), Frontline,V20(15).


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Achievements

Enrolment, retention and attendance

Nutritional impact

Socialization and Educational benefits

Social benefits (esp. for women)

Form of Income support


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Enrolment, Attendance and Retention

Enrolment: Big gains,

especially for girls and

children of other

disadvantaged groups(SCs and STs).

Attendance and rentention: Limited evidence on

improvement but measurement issues make itdifficult to capture these effects.


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Nutrition: Quantity

Prescribed food quantity

300 grams of grain & 8-12 grams of protein

Increased to 450 grams of grain and 12

grams of protein in the 2006 Guidelines

Is this adequate?

Requirements of children aged 5 years arevery different from the requirements ofchildren aged 10 years.


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Nutrition: Quality

Depends on: Menu (plain boiled rice)

Cooking practices

Hygiene conditions (kitchens, drinking water)


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Supplement or Complement?

Menu is importante.g., if children are given plainboiled rice at school and parents stop feeding them athome, then there will be a net loss.

No clear evidence

yet in India, but..


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Qualitative Supplement

With the introduction of a varied menu,

recent research suggests that improved

menus have an impact.

Improved menus meet up to 22% of RDA

as opposed to 11% where the old menu

was served(Source: Chhindwara Study in Madhya Pradesh, Afridi, 2005)


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Educational benefits

Impact on learning:

Eliminates classroom hunger - children able to

concentrate better as many children would come to

school on an empty stomach Makes school environment more fun


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Educational benefits

Can be realised if teachers are teaching

rather than organizing meals and children

are not made to help with cooking

Preparing and distributing MDM to about 60-

100 children is like managing a wedding lunch

every day!Teacher interviewed by CUTS MDM survey in Chittorgarh, Rajasthan


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Implementation

Realization of benefits depended crucially

on adequate infrastructure being in place

Kitchens, utensils for cooking and serving

Cooks, helpers, organizers

Drinking water, wood for fuel on/near school

premises

Procurement practices


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Infrastructure

Importance ofinfrastructure:

Hygienic cooking notpossible without these,esp. water

Chances of disruption ofregular teaching

activities, esp. kitchensand cooks

Corruption in the system,in the absence of properstorage facilities

A kitchen in Cuttack district


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Infrastructure

No kitchens, no cooks, noutensils, no water, when it

was operationalised in

2002

Improvements since then

Most schools have water

and utensils now Separate kitchens still an

issue


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Overcoming implementation barriers

Existing cases made learning possible

Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka

Increased political acceptability and

popularity

Role of judiciary, media, public mobilization


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Overcoming implementation

barriers

Role of the judiciary November 28, 2001 order

Supreme Court order on preference to Dalits in

appointment of cooks

Role of public mobilization Action Day (8 April, 2002): Children lining up on

streets with empty plates demanding their meals

Campaign in Jharkhand: Delegation of children met

the Chief Minister


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Overcoming implementation barriers

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, a central government

funded campaign for elementary schooling

provided funds for purchase of utensils

Money for construction of kitchens providedunder another government programme

Improved access to drinking water through the

Accelerated Drinking Water Supply Scheme


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Community Participation

Scattered instances of community

parents contributed towards improving

menus, or purchase of utensils

Self-help groups

In urban areas, involvement of NGOs

Main thrust from the government


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Some Future Concerns

Adding a health component: deworming, regularcheck-ups, micronutrient supplements:

The MDM provides a good opportunity to implementwidely accepted national programmes for iron andVitamin A supplementation.

However, tremendous commercial pressure seems to

be building up to introduce zinc and othermicronutrients. The benefits of these need to be fullyestablished.


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Some Future Concerns

Corruption

Recent reports on pilferage of grain by

inflating enrolment records


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Acknowledgements

This presentation was prepared by ReetikaKhera for a Food for Education seminarorganized by JUNAEB-WFP in Santiago, Chile(11-13 June, 2007). For more information onIndias Mid-Day Meal Scheme, please visitwww.righttofoodindia.org.

Photographs and map from Frontline(www.flonet.com), Rama Lakshmi(Washington Post) and Sohail Akbar
http://www.flonet.com/http://www.flonet.com/

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