A REPORT OF THE WORKSHOP

ON

‘Mid-day meal programmes in schools in India-The way forward’

Organised by:

NUTRITION FOUNDATION OF INDIA July 31 and August 1, 2003

New Delhi

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Preface

:

A workshop on ‘Mid-day meal programmes in schools in India-The way forward’

was held on July 31 and August 1, 2003 at the India International Center, New Delhi.

The workshop was organized by the Nutrition Foundation of India and was supported

by the Ministry of Human Resource Development and the World Food Program. The

participants included senior secretaries from different states involved in Mid- day

meal schemes and scientists and policymakers. The list of participants is set out in

Annexure I.

Discussions at the workshop were held on for two days. There were presentations by

participants from different states. They shared their experiences and offered

suggestions for formulating and implementing the MDM programme. A brief account

of the presentations made at the workshop by various participants is set out as

Annexure II.

The Report of the workshop is presented in the succeeding pages under the following

heads:

1. Summary of discussions: This section summarizes the major points that emerged

during the discussions at the workshop and forms the basis of item (2) i.e.

recommendations.

2. Recommendations: This is the operative part based on the discussions at the

workshop.

C. Gopalan

President

Nutrition Foundation of India

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Summary of Discussions

The points made during various presentations by participants in the course of discussions

at the workshop are briefly summarized in this section.

THE CASE FOR MDM: Primary school children (6-14 years) form about 20% of

the total population. Free and compulsory education up to the age of 14 years is the

constitutional commitment. It is estimated that about 40% of children drop out of primary

school. National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (NNMB) surveys (2000) indicate that

about 70% of these children are undernourished and there is about 30% deficit in energy

consumption and over 75% of the children have dietary micronutrient deficit of about

50%. Poor enrollment and high school dropout rate are attributed to the poor nutritional

status of the children compounded by poor socio-economic conditions, child labour and

lack of motivation.

Nutrition support to primary education is considered as a means to achieve the objective

of providing free and compulsory universal primary education of satisfactory quality to

all the children below the age of 14 years by giving a boost to universalisation of primary

education through increased enrollment, improved school attendance and retention and

promoting nutritional status of primary school children simultaneously. With children

from all castes and communities eating together, it is also a means of bringing about

better social integration.

Mid day meal programmes (MDM) aimed at improving the nutritional status of poor

children and at ensuring better school enrollment have been functioning in various states

of the country for over five decades. However, due to various logistical and financial

problems these programmes had languished but for a few notable exceptions. The reasons

for this lack of sustainability of the programmes might have been: (1) that they were not

based on an agreed National Policy fully backed by the Central and State Governments

and (2) that they were mostly implemented as isolated bureaucratic operations with no

meaningful involvement of the community on the one hand and with no serious attempt

to integrate these programmes as an element of a comprehensive effort towards the up

gradation of the entire School System.

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With the Supreme Court directive of November 28, 2001 to State Governments to

introduce cooked mid day meals in schools, there has now been a renewed interest in

MDM in different states in the country. Moreover, there exists today a better enabling

environment, which is conducive to the successful implementation of MDM. The

adoption of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) as a National Policy, has contributed to this.

Also, a number of Self Help Groups (SHG) and other women’s groups are active and

several NGOs are willing to participate. The media is, at present, highlighting the need

for strengthening such programmes. In consonance with the National Policy, MDM

encourages social interaction between different communities and thus contributes to

social equity. Thus in states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu there are already clear

guidelines about the involvement of dalit/minority women cooks in the programme.

POSSIBLE BENEFITS: MDM seeks 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 also possible that

since the meal supplies only one third of the dietary requirements, and that too for 200-

250 days in a year, it may not be possible to demonstrate significant improvement in the

nutritional status of the child. Even if this be so, 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. The purpose of Sarva Shiksha

Abhiyan (SSA) will thus be very well served by MDM.

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MDM could also inculcate in the pupils good dietary habits and promote personal

hygiene and awareness of the importance of environmental sanitation. In fact, MDM

could be a valuable means of imparting health and nutrition education not only to

children but also to the parents and the community.

MDM could also create employment opportunities for poor women of the village.

Majority of cooks engaged in the programmes could be women, most of them coming

from underprivileged backgrounds.

MDM could serve the important purpose of improving school enrollment and attendance

especially enrollment of 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. It could foster sound social behavior among children and

dispel feelings of difference between various castes.

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, better teaching facilities, a School Health

Service and community involvement.

COVERAGE: In the light of SSA, children in classes 1-8th could be included as

beneficiaries of the programme, as being practiced in the states of Gujarat and Tamil

Nadu, as against the present practice of including children of 1-5 classes only. Adequate

resources, both in terms of food material and infrastructure should be made available for

the purpose. In addition to Government and Government aided schools, alternative

education centers, which are outside the formal schools, could also be included under the

programme.

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THE SCHOOL MEAL: Each MDM should provide roughly a third of the daily

nutrient requirement. This would imply that the energy content of the meal would vary

roughly between 350-500 Kcal depending on the age of the child. It is important that the

meal should contain apart from cereals, a good quantity of vegetables particularly, dark

green leafy vegetables, as these are important to combat micronutrient deficiencies.

Where there is adequate space, effort should be made to encourage school gardens where

nutritious vegetables could be grown. For e.g., as in the kitchen gardens attached to the

MDM centres in some parts of Gujarat, local leafy species with high iron and other

nutrient content that can be easily grown such as drumstick, papaya and poyi bhaji may

be grown.

Apart from the nutritive value, it is important to ensure the hygienic quality of the meal

served. Even minor health problems following a school meal could vitiate the

implementation of the scheme in the whole state or even the country as a result of adverse

publicity that might follow such incidents. For this purpose, monitoring of the raw

material and cooked preparation should be an important part of the evaluation system.

The cooks should be trained to observe strict personal hygiene and to take adequate care

with respect to the hygienic handling of foods during distribution. In order that meal does

not become monotonous, recipes could be changed in order to provide variety and to

make the programme more acceptable.

There could be different models for the implementation of MDM but whatever the model

the wholesomeness of the meal in terms of nutritive value and hygiene should be strictly

ensured. This must be considered as a central part of the programme.

IMPLEMENTATION MODELS: In urban areas where a centralized kitchen

setup is possible, cooking can be undertaken in a centralized kitchen and cooked hot meal

can be distributed under hygienic conditions. This arrangement would call for efficient

management not only with respect to cooking but also transportation and distribution.

This model was adopted in Madras several years ago and currently being done by the

Naandi Foundation in Hyderabad and ISKCON group in Bangalore. On the other hand in

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rural areas, it may be necessary to opt for models that are being successfully adopted in

Tamil Nadu and Gujrat. Here the cooking is done in the schools and separate manpower

is being mobilized for cooking and distribution. Women Self Help Groups and Panchayat

can be involved. This will also give an opportunity to the community to participate in the

programme both in cooking of the meal as well as monitoring of the meal delivery.

PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE: Where the cooking is actually done in the

school, adequate physical facilities like kitchen should be provided at each school. These

should include provision of safe drinking water, facilities for hand wash and clean toilets.

As far as possible, the cooking should be done at some distance from the classrooms, so

that regular teaching in no way is affected. The teachers should ensure that the cooking

area is absolutely clean. In addition, along with MDM, the classroom environment should

be made more stimulating.

MOBILIZATION AND ALLOCATION OF FUNDS: Currently, the

Government of India (GOI) supplies food grains (wheat/rice) free through Food

Corporation of India (FCI) and reimburses transportation cost at fixed rates. The

allocation for various activities like preparation of food, cooking fuel, creation of

physical facilities, manpower resources and organization of capacity building is being

undertaken by the states. Existing development programmes like Sampoorna Grameen

Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) and Prime Minister’s Grameen Yojana (PMGY) could be used

for creating physical facilities such as construction of kitchen sheds etc. It is, perhaps,

possible for using the funds for provision of innovative employment opportunities under

the SGRY. There is a need for the Government of India to issue clear instructions

regarding use of these funds for such purposes. Funds provided under DPEP could also

be utilized for the purpose.

The Government should allocate Rs. 2.50-Rs 2.75 per child per meal when there is

separate kitchen model, which would be over and above the cost of grain, which is

provided free by the Government. Where the meal is supplied by centralized kitchen as in

urban situations, the cost could work out to Rs. 5.00 inclusive of the cost of food grains,

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vegetables and conversion costs and the additional expenditure on transportation.

Enlightened corporate sectors may be persuaded to undertake this philanthropic activity

and they may be extended appropriate tax reductions.

CONVERGENCE OF SYNERGISTIC ACTIVITIES: The MDM should be

considered as an integral part of the school system. There is no point in enrolling children

in schools with no blackboards and with apathetic teachers. In other words MDM will be

meaningless if it is not combined with synergistic and mutually reinforcing components.

An effective School Meal Programme could trigger all-round development of different

essential components of a good school system. The important components that should

accompany and be associated with a meaningful School Meal Programme are considered

below:

School Health Service: The Government of India had set up a School Health Committee

as far back as 1960, under the chairmanship of Mrs. Renuka Ray. The Report of this

committee had been included in the II Five Year Plan document. The school health

programme acquires a new relevance and importance today and MDM could be a

platform for strengthening this programme in order to produce a real impact. For this, the

School Health Service system should consist of more than routine medical checkup. It

must strive to ensure healthy environment in schools, environmental sanitation and

provision of safe drinking water.

Experience in Gujarat had shown that when a School Meal Programme is combined with

deworming of children, vitamin A supplementation and iron and folic acid

supplementation, it yields good results. The type of supplements and medicaments that

may be needed should however, be tailored to the local situation and perceived needs. A

blanket programme of adding a few supplements to the school meal may not be

appropriate for the entire country. It should be for the School Health System in each

location to decide as to the nature of medical supplements needed, if any. Apart from

under nutrition, children suffer from eye and ear defects, which may impair learning. A

School Health System may be a valuable adjunct to the School Meal Programme and

should infact go hand in hand with it. The benefits of School Meal Programme will be

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vastly improved if it is ensured that School Health Service is in its place in the same

schools. This would help in making the programme holistic. In the context of Universal

Primary Education, it will be appropriate to institute a comprehensive School Health

Service which could serve the needs of not only school children but also of the teachers

and parents- in short, of the entire school community. Institution of such a service, in

addition to its direct benefits to the school system will also greatly augment Primary

Health Care and will be a valuable Second Front in the battle against malnutrition and ill

health in the country.

Environmental sanitation and safe drinking water: Environmental sanitation in the

school ensuring clean cooking area in each kitchen and clean cooking vessels is

important to protect children from any infections. The Department of Rural Development

could help in providing appropriate physical facilities by utilizing funds under SGRY etc.

Along with effective sanitation, steps should be taken to provide safe drinking water at

the school level. Also each school should have the provision for clean toilets. Thus,

MDM could be effectively integrated with the Total Sanitation Programme (TSP).

Thus for the programme to be effective each school should provide clean cooking area

and utensils, facilities for safe drinking water, clean and hygienic toilets and hygienic

cooking practices by the personnel involved in preparation of the meals.

Sensitizing the Teachers: It would appear from reports that some teachers-unions

consider MDM as a distraction to teaching and learning. We should strive to correct this

apprehension and make persuasive efforts to sensitize the teachers by explaining to them

the advantages of providing meal in the school as a means of improving school

attendance, retention and learning abilities of the children. Teachers must appreciate

MDM as being a part of education, requiring their full cooperation. The slight increase in

responsibilities that MDM may impose will be rewarded by better returns in terms of

improved performances for their teaching efforts. Every effort must be made to enlist the

cooperation of teachers and teachers’ union. These should become enthusiastic

participants rather than sullen bystandards.

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Community involvement: Desirable nutrition, health and sanitation practices cannot be

developed in children in schools isolated from the community in which they live. In order

to promote such practices in children, education and participation of parents and

guardians is must. This can be in terms of formulation of recipes, monitoring and in

distribution. Also, village education committees (VEC) should encourage the community

involvement in implementation by involving women’s groups. In some states,

SHGs/VECs are already involved with success and this could be one of the approaches.

MDM could become an income generation activity for the women’s groups. The

community should be made aware of the relevance and significance of the scheme and

should be sensitized adequately. Though the programme is offered to all the children

attending the school, there need not be any compulsion on any child to consume the food

served at the school. However, intensive efforts should be made to increase the

participation and socialization of the children by improving awareness of the needy

groups. Parent-teacher associations (PTAs) could be utilized to increase participation of

the beneficiaries. It is recommended that recipes acceptable to a large number of children

may only be served adopting cyclic menu.

Also the underprivileged women of the local area could be involved in cooking of the

meals, which would in return give them employment opportunity and also a free meal as

it is followed in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Udisha: The funds under this programme, operated by the Department of Women and

Child Development, GOI, are now being used for training of ICDS functionaries to

increase the programme efficiency. These funds could also be used for training and

sensitizing of functionaries of MDM at various levels to improve quality of the

programme. The departments at state level should extend the necessary support.

FCI: The Food Corporation of India should ensure that good quality food grains in

adequate quantities are supplied to different states regularly and in time. The organization

must take care that the grains, which reach the schools or the centralized kitchens, are of

good quality.

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Other public sector undertakings: Public sector organizations may also be encouraged

to participate in the implementation of such a preventive and promotive health and

nutrition programme. The schemes like “Rasoi Ghar” scheme of HPCL in A.P., where

LPG for the purpose of cooking is provided at cost basis, without insisting on deposit

amount, other public undertakings could be involved for similar activities.

Professional institutions: In each state, the expertise available with different institutions

in food and nutrition like NIN, NFI, Home Science Colleges, IRMA, IIMs, and FNB

units could be beneficially used. This could be either in the formulation of suitable

recipes based on local conditions or developing suitable monitoring and information

system (MIS), identifying indicators for monitoring the programme and providing

training as required.

Corporate sector: Funds could be raised from various industrial and corporate concerns

and individual donors as is being done under the Bal Nidhi Scheme in Gujrat, Karnataka

and AP. The GOI could extend income tax concessions for the purpose. This could be

utilized to enrich the food and also to fill the gaps in the implementation of the MDM.

The corporate sectors could also come forward to support the centralized kitchens by

providing assistance in technology and also by providing transport in the effective

distribution of the meals to different schools. A very good example of this is the

centralized kitchen by Naandi Foundation working in Hyderabad and Secunderabad,

which has been set up jointly by four corporate organizations.

Networking of agencies: Networking of different agencies concerned with

implementation of MDM should be done for sharing of experience and knowledge. There

should be good communication system between the different tiers of Panchayat Raj

Institutions (PRI), school authorities (in rural separate manpower model) and women

groups. The parents and the community should also interact with the authorities to put

forward the needs of the children and thus effectively participate in the programme.

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MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT: It is recommended that each state

should develop a monitoring system to monitor the implementation of the programme by

identifying appropriate process indicators with the help of professional institutions. This

would help in making the programme more effective. The periodical returns to be sent to

GOI can be done through simple MIS software, which compiles the centre- wise and

district-wise data to get the state reports. Experience of the States of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu

and AP may be considered for the purpose.

A third party periodical evaluation is recommended. This should include both process

indicators and outcome variables. The GOI should make adequate funds available. While

simplifying the monitoring indicators and feedback mechanism critical parameters should

not be left out. There should be a mechanism to periodically carry out review of the

program at different levels to identify areas for improvement and make the necessary

changes dynamically.

POLITICAL COMMITMENT: The Hon’ble Prime Minister may convene

meetings of Chief Ministers of states to reinforce the messages and to highlight the

importance of the programme and the need for its proper implementation in the entire

country.

The Department of Education in the Ministry of Human Resource Development could

periodically convene meetings of officers from different states involved in MDM to

discuss the progress of the programme, to inject mid-course correction, if any, and to

provide such additional support whenever needed.

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Recommendations

1. There is a strong need for instituting and effectively implementing the Mid Day

Meal (MDM) programme throughout the country, particularly in the light of

Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA). The programme could include children attending 1-

8th classes as beneficiaries for the programme.

2. Each mid day meal should roughly provide one third of daily nutritional

requirements, i.e. each meal should give at least 350-500 Kcal depending on age.

The quantity of the cereals (wheat/rice/millet) may be increased to 125 g per child

per day. The recipes should include enough vegetables, particularly dark green

leafy vegetables, as far as possible, every day. The menu should be varied to

ensure better acceptability of the meals by the children. Wherever there is

adequate space in the school, efforts should be made to encourage school gardens

involving school children. It is important that apart from nutritive value, hygienic

quality of food should also be ensured. This will imply that school should have

access to safe drinking water and clean toilet facilities on one hand and also that

the personnel involved in cooking and serving food strictly observe personal

hygiene habits.

3. Also, there should be a system of monitoring the quality of raw materials used,

the hygienic quality of the cooked meal and feeding patterns at centres. Feedback

forms can be obtained periodically from the children and parents about quality,

quantity and other parameters.

4. An adequate infrastructure should be provided to the schools to carry out the

preparation of the meals like separate kitchen or cooking area, storage space,

proper utensils for cooking, serving and eating, provision of safe water for

cooking, washing etc. Also each school should provide clean toilets and safe

drinking water. There should be an emphasis on hygienic practices and

environmental sanitation. Based on a physical survey, and the gaps identified, the

needs can be established and these can be filled in a time-bound manner by

pooling funds from various development schemes.

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5. In urban areas where a centralized kitchen setup is possible, cooking should be

undertaken in a centralized kitchen and cooked hot meal should be distributed

under hygienic conditions and then transported through an effective transport

system to various schools. In rural areas, it may be necessary to opt for models

that are being successfully adopted in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat where the cooking

is done in the schools and separate manpower is being mobilized for cooking and

distribution. Self Help Women’s groups and Panchayat, VECs, MTAs and PTAs

should also be involved like in the States of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

6. The food grains should be provided by GOI through buffer stocks, as this can be a

very effective way of utilizing the buffer stocks. This can also be implemented in

the form of a scheme that could be called as “Food for learning”.

7. In addition to the food grains provided by FCI, the Government should allocate

Rs 1.75 per child per meal, which would meet the cost of cooking and also other

ingredients in the meal. The Government should allocate a total of Rs 2.50-Rs

2.75 per child per meal when there is a separate kitchen model. When the meal is

supplied by a centralized kitchen, the cost of each meal would come to Rs 5.00 to

include the expenses incurred on transportation. The cost for the transportations

could be supported by the corporate sectors of the society.

8. There should be synergistic efforts and cooperation from the Department of

Health to ensure success of the programme. The School Health Service system

should be developed consisting of more than routine medical checkup and must

comprise of synergistic and mutually reinforcing elements like healthy

environment in schools and ensuring environmental sanitation, provision of safe

drinking water and deworming where possible. There, should be arrangements for

follow up and prompt treatment of defects and diseases detected in medical

checkup in order to ensure complete health and nutrition of the children, with

provision for simple documentation and tracking of the children on a quarterly

basis.

9. There should be periodical orientation programmes to sensitize the policy makers,

implementers, teachers and the centre-level staff as also VECs, by dovetailing

with the large-scale capacity building and orientation undertaken by the SSA

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across the country towards the nutritional needs of the children. Teachers should

be persuaded to stop viewing the MDM programme as a source of disruption and

distraction of classroom teaching.

10. For the programme to be effective and successful there should be active

participation from the community including parents and teachers, SHGs, local

women groups of the area and the Panchayat. Parent teacher association should

work together in the betterment of the programme and also to sort out any

problem, which may be faced while implementing the programme. Inclusion of

the underprivileged women of the village would also provide them with

employment opportunity and social security. Also there should be cooperation

from Department of Women and Child Development, GOI or training of the

personnel under Udisha. Public sector undertakings should also be encouraged to

participate. For example, “Rasoi Ghar” scheme of HPCL in A.P., where LPG for

the purpose of cooking is provided at cost basis. Expert help can also be sought

from the food and nutrition institutes like NIN, NFI, and various home science

colleges across the country in planning of recipes and monitoring of the food

quality.

11. Various corporate organizations should be enthused and persuaded to come

forward to support the programme. A very good example of this is the centralized

kitchen by Naandi Foundation working in Hyderabad and Secunderabad, which

has been set up jointly by four corporate organizations. Similarly, ISKCON, a

spiritual organization in Bangalore city, has been distributing school meal under

its Akshayapatra programme through central kitchens. In the urban schools where

the centralized kitchen model can be followed, the cost incurred in transportation

of the meals to schools could be borne by corporate bodies.

12. A management information system should be developed in making the

programme more effective.

13. There should be an independent third party evaluation of the programme to

monitor whether the programme is fulfilling the objectives it is supposed to.

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14. The Prime Minister could convene meetings of Chief Ministers of states to

reinforce the messages and to highlight the importance of the programme and the

need for its proper implementation in the entire country.

The Department of Education in the Ministry of Human Resource Development

could periodically convene meetings of officers from different states involved in

MDM to discuss the progress of the programme, to inject mid-course correction,

if any, and to provide such additional support whenever needed.

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ANNEXURE I

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

New Delhi

Dr. C. Gopalan, President, Nutrition Foundation of India* Dr. N.C. Saxena, Former Secretary, Planning Commission, Government of India

Mr. S. C. Tripathi, Secretary, Elementary Education, Government of India

Mr. Sumit Bose, Joint Secretary, Elementary Education, Government of India* Dr. (Ms) Minnie Mathew, World Food Programme

Professor Jean Dreze, Delhi School of Economics*

Dr. Prema Ramachandran, Advisor (Nutrition), Planning Commission, Government of

India

Mrs. Indira Yadav, Addl. Director, Directorate of Education, Government of Delhi

Mrs. Saroj Kapoor, ADE Welfare, Directorate of Education, New Delhi

Mr. B. C. Narula, Deputy Education Officer, Directorate of Education, Government of

Delhi

Ms. Ira Joshi, Department of Elementary Education

Mr. Kaushik, South Zone, Government of Delhi

Dr. Kiran Devendra, Prof. NCERT

Dr. N.C. Saxena, Deputy Director, ICMR

Dr. Rakesh Mittal, Deputy Director, ICMR

Dr. Sheila Vir (UNICEF)

Dr. C.S. Pandav (AIIMS)

Dr. Saroja Narayanan (AIIMS)

Dr. Suraksha Shukla (AIIMS)

Mr. Subhash Zadoo (Food Corporation of India)

Dr. Pratima Kaushik, Consultant, Vimhans

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Mr. Mahamantra Das, ISCKON, Delhi

Dr. Shanti Ghosh, MCH Consultant, Delhi

Dr. (Mrs) D.K. Agarwal (Delhi)

Ms. F Afridi (Delhi)

Dr. S. Thomas, Head-Department of Food and Nutrition, Lady Irwin College

Dr. S. Sharma, Reader, Lady Irwin College

Dr A. Wadhwa, Reader, Lady Irwin College

Dr Vinita Narula, Reader, Lady Irwin College

Dr S J Passi, Reader, Institute of Home Economics

Dr T Rekhi, Reader, Institute of Home Economics

Dr. Sarath Gopalan, Executive Director, Centre for Research on Nutrition Support

Systems (CRNSS)

Ms. Anshu Sharma, Scientific Officer, Nutrition Foundation of India

Ms. Shilpa S. Wadhwa, Scientific Officer, Nutrition Foundation of India

Ms. Sakshi K. Bhushan, Scientific Officer, Nutrition Foundation of India

Ms. Deepti Khanna, Scientific Officer, Nutrition Foundation of India

Ms. Hema S. Gopalan, Scientific Coordinator, Nutrition Foundation of India

Ms. Rajeshwari Ramana, Nutrition Foundation of India

Ms. Meesha Sharma, Nutrition Foundation of India

Ms. Shifali Mahajan, Nutrition Foundation of India

Andhra Pradesh Dr. K. Vijayaraghavan, Deputy Director, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad*, **

Dr. G N V Brahmam, Deputy Director, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad**

Dr. Man Mohan Singh, Commissioner and Director of School Education** Ms. Leena Joseph - Naandi Foundation, Hyderabad

Karnataka Mr. A P Joshi, Secretary, School Education

Mrs. Saradamma, Joint Director, Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Karnataka** Dr. Tara Gopaldas, Tara Consultancy Services, Bangalore

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Gujarat Ms. Jayanti Ravi, Commissioner of Schools and MDM, Government of Gujarat** Dr. (Ms) Subhada Kanani, M.S.University, Baroda

Tamil Nadu Mr. N. Dhananjayan, Joint Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu

Mr. Chandran, Joint Secretary, Rural Development

Professor Usha Chandrasekhar, Former Dean, Avinashilingam University, Coimbatore

Himachal Pradesh Mr. Sudripto Roy, Secretary, Government of Himachal Pradesh

West Bengal Mr. T.K. Bose, Principal Secretary, School Education, Government of West Bengal

Dr. S. Chakravorty, Joint Director of Health Services (Nutrition), Government of West

Bengal

Maharashtra Mr. R.B. Phansalkar, Department of Education, Government of Maharashtra

Rajasthan Mr. R.K. Bharadwaj, Government of Rajasthan

Madhya Pradesh Mr. O P Dubey, Joint Commissioner, Dev Comm.

Assam Mr. D Jhingran, Commissioner and Secretary, Education

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Uttranchal Mr. Sanjay Kumar, Joint Secretary

Punjab Mr. V K Singh, Joint Secretary, Education Department

Mizoram Ms. Pi Malsawmthangi, Joint Director

* Chairpersons

** Drafting Committee Members

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ANNEXURE II

PRESENTATIONS MADE AT THE MID-DAY MEAL WORKSHOP

The participants in the workshop were policy makers, implementers, academicians,

nutritionists and other stakeholders.

Dr. C. Gopalan, President, NFI, while welcoming the delegates pointed out that mid

day meal programme, which is not new to the country suffered vicissitudes due to

various factors and languished in a number of States in the country, perhaps due to

logistic and financial problems, and lack of perceived impact on the nutritional status.

He expressed happiness that there is now renewed interest in the programme, thanks

to the intervention of Supreme Court of India.

He exhorted that the programme should be holistic by including the component of

school health and be made sustainable with active involvement of community.

Dr. N. C. Saxena, Former Secretary, Planning Commission, Government of India,

stated that the difference in the per capita monthly consumption of cereals between

the top third and the lowest third of the population is only 3 kg and that with the large

food stocks and faithful implementation of the schemes it is possible to bridge this

gap and wipe out hunger and poverty. MDM programme is sustainable, being

repetitive in nature creating entitlements to the poorer population. He pointed out that

the Government is spending Rupees 1,30,000 crores on various developmental

programmes and that MDM should be linked with schemes like SGRY, PMGY and

other programmes of Central and state governments to obtain maximum benefits.

Mr. S. C. Tripathi, Secretary, Elementary Education, Government of India, while

pointing out that the workshop’s theme was topical, informed that, during 2002-2003,

about 107 million children benefited from the National Programme of Nutrition

Support to Primary Education and that 77% of the allotted food stocks were lifted.

Despite some resistance by the Teachers’ Unions that the programme was distracting

their normal role of teaching, the programme had salutary effect on school

attendance, retention and completion of primary schooling.

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Mr. Tripathi highlighted that MDM should be considered as a National Programme

and not merely a government programme. He emphasized the need for community

involvement for the programme to become sustainable.

He called for a change in the mindset of the politicians, policy makers and

implementers. He pleaded for involvement of SHGs, NGOs and parents’ committees

in the implementation of the programme, like in A.P. and Karnataka. He expressed

concern about non-implementation of the scheme in certain states. He also pleaded

that the programme should be extended to EGS and alternative schooling centers.

Dr. (Ms) Minnie Mathew of World Food Programme cited several studies which

indicated improvement in learning abilities among children who had participated in

school lunch. She emphasized the need for deworming, sensitization of teachers,

capacity building of panchayat raj functionaries, inclusion of school health and

increased allocation of resources.

Dr. (Ms) Kiran Devendra, Professor, Department of Elementary Education,

NCERT, stated that based on the feedback of various evaluation studies conducted by

NCERT, opinion builders, teachers and other functionaries, the programme has been

modified to make it more flexible and accountable. Its coverage has been extended to

all children enrolled in Alternative Schooling (Education Guarantee Scheme).

Dr. K.Vijayaraghavan, Officer-in-charge, NNMB, NIN, while presenting the

nutritional relevance of MDM and the status of the programme at different times,

indicated that creation of political and bureaucratic ‘will’ is absolutely essential for

sustained implementation of the scheme. Considering the extent of dietary deficit, he

suggested that addition of micronutrients is very much desired. He felt that MDM

could be more holistic by linkage with horticulture (school garden), school health

programme and community participation to make it self-sustaining. The scheme

could also be utilized for imparting nutrition education. He emphasized the need for

supervision and monitoring through proper MIS.

Professor Jean Dreze, Delhi School of Economics, presented the results of an

evaluation of the scheme in the states of Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Rajasthan. At

the outset, he presented the latest situation with respect to the implementation of

MDM in different states in the country. MDM, involving serving cooked meal as per

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directions of the Supreme Court, was still not implemented in Uttar Pradesh and

Bihar, two major states of the country.

The results revealed that >90% of the parents wanted the programme to continue.

There were indications of improvement in enrolment, particularly in girls and the

attendance also registered increase. In the state of Rajasthan, the female enrolment

rose by 29%, which was supported by the official estimates of 18% after MDM was

started. The survey revealed that in 76 of the 81 schools surveyed in the 3 states, the

programme was regular. However, only 17% of the schools had constructed kitchens,

while 30% had temporary sheds. More importantly, in 40% of the schools, the meal

was being cooked in open space. Prof. Jean Dreze pointed out that Karnataka had

made considerable progress with respect to building sound infrastructure with most

cooks enjoying the assistance of helpers. The classroom environment appeared to be

more stimulating and the MDM was more equitable and more efficient in the state.

On the other hand, in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh most cooks did not have helpers

and were without the elementary facilities like kitchen and proper utensils.

Aside from boosting school attendance and nutrition, mid-day meals had an important

socialization value as all children learn to sit together and share a common meal. He

also indicated that there was no evidence of any specific social discrimination with

respect to dalits. More than 96% of the parents expressed that they did not have any

objection to their children sharing a common meal in the school with those of

different castes. The parents informed that now the children were going to the schools

on their own initiative after the programme was initiated.

Professor Tara Gopaldas of Tara Consultancy Services, presented beneficial effects

of deworming, vitamin A and IFA supplementation in Gujarat. She felt that, in

Gujarat, the MDM programme has been successful because it is on the top of the

agenda of the government indicating political and bureaucratic will. She called for

introducing management practices for the programme to be more effective.

Ms. Jayanti Ravi, Commissioner of Schools and MDM, Government of Gujarat,

while describing the experiences of the programme in the State over the last about 20

years, highlighted the several initiatives taken by the government. These include

creating appropriate infrastructure (Organizer + Cook + Helper in each school),

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adopting varied menu, utilizing Udisha funds for training of functionaries to improve

quality of the programme, tracking the growth of children from their ICDS charts,

handing over of centers, on an experimental basis, to VECs, providing health package

of deworming, vitamin A and IFA supplementation and use of iodized salt, utilization

of IT highway for MIS, encouraging kitchen garden in some schools, making MDM

an agenda item of gram sabhas and organizing capacity building sessions for

functionaries.

Ms.J. Ravi also pointed out that while the GoI programme is for children attending 1-

5 classes, in Gujarat the feeding was extended to children in classes 6 and 7 as well.

She pleaded that the GoI should include even these children.

Dr. (Ms) Subhada Kanani, M.S.University, Baroda, suggested that MDM could

serve as a platform for service-related-IEC for the young adolescent (11-13 years).

She suggested that all young adolescents getting the MDM should also get weekly

IFA tablets to improve their cognitive and growth performance.

Dr. Manmohan Singh, Commissioner and Director, School Education, Government

of A.P., presented the community owned programme in A.P., which was initiated

from January 2003. The highlights of the programme were: involvement of SHGs like

DWCRA as implementing agencies, freedom enjoyed by them in procurement of

material, regular monitoring of the programme by the CM through fortnightly reports,

quality assurance, supply of boiled eggs/banana once in a week and web enabled

formats for monitoring.

He stated that village women were trained in bulk cooking. He further stated that in

a number of schools LPG is being used for cooking; HPCL, one of the public sector

undertakings, is providing LPG/stove under its ‘Rasoi Ghar’ scheme. He also pointed

out that teachers were not directly involved, considering the earlier experience in

1983 when there was resistance from them on the ground that it was distracting their

main job of teaching. The teachers supervise the attendance and the quality of food. A

voluntary foundation (Naandi) is involved in implementation of MDM in the twin

cities of Hyderabad and Secunderbad.

Ms. Leena Joseph of Naandi Foundation, Hyderabad presented with the help of

video presentation the management of central cooking and distribution of high quality

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food based on rice+pulse+vegetables to about 1,50,000 children, which is well

accepted by the students and parents alike. The food is cooked in the central kitchen

and distributed to the schools through efficient transportation. She pointed out that

advancing of capital by the government to be repaid in installments over time has

helped to establish such a central facility.

Mr. A. P. Joshi, Secretary, School education, Government of Karnataka, presented

the details of the programme in the State. Known as Akshara Dasoha, the programme

was initiated in 7 backward districts in Northern Karnataka in 2001 and was extended

to all the districts from July 1, 2003. It is a completely decentralized programme

through SDMCs (School Development and Monitoring Committee) with female

cooks preparing one of the 6 recipes daily on a rotation basis. He also informed that

Dalit Cooks are being employed without a problem. Several NGOs are involved as

well. The role of teachers is kept to the minimum like tasting the recipe and ensuring

discipline during feeding. Health package consisting of deworming and distribution

of IFA tablets is also included in the programme.

Mr. N.Dhananjayan, Joint Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, gave the details

of the Chief Minister’s Nutritious Noon Meal Programme. This is, perhaps, the oldest

of such programmes in the country in operation since 1982, catering to children

between the ages of 2 and 14 years. It supplies, in addition to daily sambar rice for

365 days in a year, nutritious sprouted ‘Grams’ thrice a week and boiled egg once a

week. The infrastructure consisted at the peripheral level Organizer, Cook and

Assistant. The Government of Tamil Nadu strongly feels that it is an essential

programme and a wise investment in human resource development.

Professor Usha Chandrasekhar, Former Dean, Avinashilingam University,

Coimbatore, pointed out that Tamil Nadu’s nutritious noon meal programme has been

a forerunner to several such schemes in the country and late Professor Rajammal

Devadas, former Chancellor of the University, was the chief architect of the

programme and under her guidance several evaluations were conducted which

indicated the positive contribution of the programme to the nutritional status and

learning abilities of the participants. She pointed out the successful implementation of

the programme is due to the strong political and bureaucratic ‘will’ in the state.

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Ms. Indira Yadav, Addl. Director, Government of Delhi, informed that the

programme was initiated in 400 schools. She pointed out that, being a metropolis,

Delhi has several logistic problems due to non-availability of adequate space, double

shift, large school strength, diversity in food habits, lack of community enthusiasm,

lack of established NGOs to undertake the responsibility even on a limited scale and

inability to deliver food from central kitchen due to traffic.

Mr. Sudripto Roy, Secretary, Government of H.P., at the outset pointed out that not

only the nutritional situation in the state was relatively better but also the enrolment in

the schools was about 98%. The dietary consumption at the household level was

satisfactory and the quality of the diet was much superior than what was intended

under the scheme. He narrated several logistic problems like scattered schools, small

number of students in each school (as low as 1 per school), inaccessibility, and long

distances, and felt that blanket programmes such as MDM may not be warranted in

states like H.P.

Dr.G.N.V.Brahmam, Deputy Director, National Institute of Nutrition, presented

salient observations of the evaluation of MDM carried out in six States viz., Andhra

positive impact of MDM in terms of improvement in school enrolment rate and

retention rate, reduction in drop out rate, improvement of nutritional status as well as

scholastic performance of children. The major constraints observed in the programme

were lack of separate kitchen facility, storage space, safe drinking water and

inadequate utensils for cooking and serving of food.

Mr. T.K. Bose, Principal Secretary, School Education, Government of West Bengal,

while describing the MDM in his State, stated that the Government of West Bengal

started cooked meal programme (CMD) in 5 districts during January 2003

@100g/day per 25 days; its cost was about Re 1/child per day to the state, on a pilot

basis, which has been extended to 4 more districts from April 2003. NGOs, SHGs and

AWWs were involved in cooking the meal. While NGOs/SHGs were paid Rs.400 per

school per month, the AWWs were paid Rs. 250 per month. The programme was

flexible, so as to enable the district administration to tap the resources either from

NGOs, SHGs or ICDS. He stated that the children, parents and community welcomed

the programme, which in their perception had positive impact on school attendance.

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Non-acceptance of kicheri by children on continuous basis, supply of bad quality of

rice, inadequate funds and the perception among the teachers that there was reduction

in learning time of the students were some of the constraints expressed. He opined

that supplementation of RTE food was desirable in rainy season from health point of

view.

Mr.R.B.Phansalkar, Department of Education, Government of Maharashtra, gave a

brief account of the programme in the State. The Government of Maharashtra

constituted committees at State, District and Taluka level to monitor MDM

programme. Prior to Supreme Court directive, supply of raw rice @ 3

kg/student/month was under implementation. The supplementation of cooked meal

was initiated in a phased manner in all the primary schools in tribal areas, to start

with, and was later extended to rural or urban areas; expenditure was Re 0.50 per

child per day, which is quite inadequate. In the rural areas, the scheme is

implemented by the Village Education Committees with Sarpanch as its Exofficio

Chairman. Rice is cooked in the school and in some places contractors were

appointed to cook food. Some of the problems encountered included delay in supply

of rice by Government, reluctance of some of the aided schools to participate in the

programme, lack of enthusiasm among implementers especially teachers and

inadequate funds.

Mr.R.K.Bharadwaj, Government of Rajasthan, informed that the MDM programme

in the State, perhaps, was the first to implement the programme in 16 districts in

February 2002 after the Supreme Court’s orders and later extended to all the 32

districts covering over 60,000 schools since July 2002. The programme is benefiting

about 70 lakh children of 1-5th class in government and government aided schools,

all alternative schooling centers in both the rural and urban areas. The supplement is

being cooked and served hot and the recipes include “googri”, porridge, sattu, lapsi

etc. Gram Panchayats implement the programme involving women’s SHGs, with

preference to widows, in cooking and serving the food. The state wants the

Government of India to share at least half the total cost of about Rs. 120 crores.

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Discussion on Major Issues Chairperson – Mr. Sumit Bose

Following the above presentations, there was a brainstorming session on the major issues

involved in Mid-day meal programme. The issues discussed were on Enabling

Environment, Models to be adopted, Mobilization and Allocation of funds, Stakeholders

and their mandate (including Panchayats, parents, teachers, community and the NGOs),

Coverage and Convergence of activities.

The points made in this discussion have been included in the “Summary of

Discussions” in the first part of the report.

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