Each child would join school if s/he wouldn't have to think about the means of earning the next meal of the day. Every child would concentrate better on studies if s/he has a regular intake of healthy, nutritious food. this was the thought process behind the introduction of mid day meal scheme in the government school's nationwide.
India is home to a third of the world's malnourished children. studies have shown that these children are likely to grow into malnourished adults, with greater risks of disease and early deaths.
In a landmark order dated November 28, 2001, the Supreme Court of India directed all State governments to introduce cooked mid-day meals in primary schools within six months, which would ensure elementary education, child nutrition and social equity.
MDMS is the world's largest school lunch programme, though it has not been implemented in every government school of india. but places where the scheme has been implemented have shown remarkable increase in the enrollment of students and daily attendance. For example, in chittorgarh district of rajasthan, the overall enrollment has increased by 64%, enrollment of girls has increased by 77% and the percentage of school dropouts has also declined.
In 1995, when the national programme for nutritional support to primary education was launched, the centre only provided foodgrains free of cost, and expected the states to take care of the ingredients, infrastructure, salaries of the cook etc., but the scheme never really took off because of the states' funds crunch and the foodgrains were passed on to the students as dry rations. But this time the centre has started contributing more money to the scheme, from just 1000crores to 8000crores. The government also plans to add a "school health" programme as a component, underwhich the children will go for regular health check ups and get free treatment for conditions like anaemia, scabies and worms.
MDMS has been shown to reduce the gender gap in education ,as it boosts female school attendance. it also contributes to gender equality by creating employment opportunities for poor women who are employed as cooks and helpers.
MDMS is having its share of criticism too, be it due non implementation in states like UP, Bihar and Assam, or due to corruption {diversion of food and funds due to inadequate monitoring}. The food served does not meet the required calorie or protein content mandated by the centre, meals are cooked under unhygienic conditions and children have also complained of indigestion. And also there are very few cooks and helpers, mostly the teachers and students themselves have to join in to help. this disrupts education. there have also been cases of caste discrimination in context of mid day meals.
The experience so far shows that mid day meals can contribute a lot to the wellbeing and future of indian children. The scheme may have its flaws but those can be checked by taking proper measures. to tap the full potential of the scheme , urgent qualitative improvements are required. financial allocations have to be raised, infrastructure { cooking sheds, utensils, water supply, storage facilities} needs urgent improvement, cooks need helpers, monitoring system has to be revised, and instances of social discrimination has to be firmly dealt with. All these steps would undoubtedly ensure the eradication of classroom hunger.
The social issues of poverty ,illiteracy, population, unemployment form a vicious circle, which surrounds a large section of people who form a vast pool of untapped human resource. For them to break free of this cycle, such path breaking measures are required.
India is home to a third of the world's malnourished children. studies have shown that these children are likely to grow into malnourished adults, with greater risks of disease and early deaths.
In a landmark order dated November 28, 2001, the Supreme Court of India directed all State governments to introduce cooked mid-day meals in primary schools within six months, which would ensure elementary education, child nutrition and social equity.
MDMS is the world's largest school lunch programme, though it has not been implemented in every government school of india. but places where the scheme has been implemented have shown remarkable increase in the enrollment of students and daily attendance. For example, in chittorgarh district of rajasthan, the overall enrollment has increased by 64%, enrollment of girls has increased by 77% and the percentage of school dropouts has also declined.
In 1995, when the national programme for nutritional support to primary education was launched, the centre only provided foodgrains free of cost, and expected the states to take care of the ingredients, infrastructure, salaries of the cook etc., but the scheme never really took off because of the states' funds crunch and the foodgrains were passed on to the students as dry rations. But this time the centre has started contributing more money to the scheme, from just 1000crores to 8000crores. The government also plans to add a "school health" programme as a component, underwhich the children will go for regular health check ups and get free treatment for conditions like anaemia, scabies and worms.
MDMS has been shown to reduce the gender gap in education ,as it boosts female school attendance. it also contributes to gender equality by creating employment opportunities for poor women who are employed as cooks and helpers.
MDMS is having its share of criticism too, be it due non implementation in states like UP, Bihar and Assam, or due to corruption {diversion of food and funds due to inadequate monitoring}. The food served does not meet the required calorie or protein content mandated by the centre, meals are cooked under unhygienic conditions and children have also complained of indigestion. And also there are very few cooks and helpers, mostly the teachers and students themselves have to join in to help. this disrupts education. there have also been cases of caste discrimination in context of mid day meals.
The experience so far shows that mid day meals can contribute a lot to the wellbeing and future of indian children. The scheme may have its flaws but those can be checked by taking proper measures. to tap the full potential of the scheme , urgent qualitative improvements are required. financial allocations have to be raised, infrastructure { cooking sheds, utensils, water supply, storage facilities} needs urgent improvement, cooks need helpers, monitoring system has to be revised, and instances of social discrimination has to be firmly dealt with. All these steps would undoubtedly ensure the eradication of classroom hunger.
The social issues of poverty ,illiteracy, population, unemployment form a vicious circle, which surrounds a large section of people who form a vast pool of untapped human resource. For them to break free of this cycle, such path breaking measures are required.
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