mid day meal
TRANSCRIPT
WHAT IS A MID-DAY MEAL ?
The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal
programe of the Government of India designed
to improve the nutritional status of school-age
children nationwide.The programe supplies free
lunches on working days for children in Primary
and Upper Primary Classes in Government,
Government Aided Associations. Serving
120,000,000 children in over 1,265,000 schools
and Education Guarantee Scheme centers, it is
the largest such programme in the world.
BRIEF HISTORY
• Existed in India since 1960's.
• In 1995, Government of India
implemented it as the National
Programme of Nutritional Support to
Primary Education.
• Many states provided only “dry
rations” until 2001.
• Cooked meals were only provided in
Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and
parts of Madhya Pradesh and
Orissa.
M G Ramachandran extended midday
meals to all primary schools in India.
THE “RIGHT TO FOOD” CASE
On 28 November, 2001 the Supreme
Court issued the following order:
“implement the Mid-Day Meal Scheme
by providing every child in every
government and government assisted
primary school with a prepared mid-
day meal with a minimum content of
300 calories and 8- 12 grams of
protein each day of school for a
minimum of 200 days”.
The Official
logo of Right to
Food
ACHIEVEMENTS
• Enrolment, retention and attendance
• Nutritional impact
• Socialization and Educational benefits
• Form of Income support
Food being
served at a
school in
Tamilnadu.
SOCIALIZATION AND HEALTH BENEFITS
• Socialization (Eating together).
• Overcoming caste discrimination (Denial of food to Scheduled caste children, Segregated seating, separate food/utensils for children of different castes).
• Inculcating hygienic habits (Washing hands and utensils before and after eating, eating together).
Children
enjoying food
without thinking
of caste discrimination.
EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS
Impact on learning: –
- Eliminates classroom hunger.
- Children able to concentrate better as
many children would come to school on
empty stomach.
- Makes school environment more fun.