Mid-Day Meal Scheme
About:
- Every child at government-funded and other schools as well as madarsas supported by Samagra Shiksha is guaranteed one meal under the programme.
- One healthy cooked lunch is provided to students up to Class VIII on at least 200 days each year.
- The Ministry of HRD is in charge of the Scheme.
- It was introduced as the centrally supported National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE) in 1995. The programme was reinstituted in 2004 under the name Mid Day Meal Scheme.
- The 2013 National Food Security Act also applies to the Scheme.
Objective:
Improve caste socialisation, combat starvation and malnutrition, raise enrollment and school attendance, and give women, in particular, access to employment at the local level.
The 2015 MDM regulations provide that:
- Only in school shall meals be served to the youngsters.
- In the event that a school day’s midday meal is not given due to a lack of food grains or for any other cause, the State Government shall pay food security allowance by the 15th of the following month.
- The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009 requires the school management committee to oversee implementation of the midday meal programme.
Nutritional guidelines:
- According to MHRD, students in upper primary schools should receive 700 calories with 20 grams of protein, while children in primary schools are required to receive at least 450 calories with 12 grams of protein through MDM.
- According to information from the MHRD, elementary school students should consume 100 grams of cereal grains, 20 grams of pulses, 50 grams of vegetables, and 5 grams of oils and fats per meal. The required breakdown is 15 grams of cereal grains, 30 grams of pulses, 75 grams of vegetables, and 7.5 grams of oils and fats for upper primary school students.
