Gains yes but survey shows lapses eating into mid-day meal benefits…..Anubhuti Vishnoi
A Planning Commission survey has found startling lapses in the celebrated Mid Day Meal programme of the government. While it is aimed at enhancing enrolment, retention and participation of children in primary schools, not only do teachers have to frequently take time out of their duties to help prepare the meals but, the survey found, students also pitch in with help in washing the utensils spending up to nine hours of their valuable school time per week in some states in the above task.
An evaluation of the implementation of MDMs across 17 states and 48 districts shows that while the scheme does reach the targeted beneficiaries, logistical issues like absence of cooks, kitchen sheds and stores besides the non-involvement of gram panchayats often cripples the revolutionary potential of the flagship scheme.
While states like Tamil Nadu which pioneered the MDM Andhra Pradesh and Kerala have scored well on most parameters, states like Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal have a lot of catching up to do.
Of the 17 states surveyed, in as many as nine, students were involved in washing utensils. While at 48.8%, Rajasthan had the highest percentage of children involved in washing utensils, it was followed by West Bengal (45%) and Arunachal Pradesh (38.4%). The time spent on washing utensils ranged from 15 minutes to 9.83 hours per week across schools, adversely affecting the learning of children, notes the report.
While Tamil Nadu and Kerala have engaged staff to administer the scheme, in many states, school teachers cut down teaching time to arrange provisions, and to cook and serve the meal. In Meghalaya, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra, a teacher spends two hours a week on an average on this while teachers in other surveyed states devote nearly an hour for the same.
While a staggering 72% students in Bihar complained about the quality of food under the scheme, 80 to 90 per cent of the students in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and TN thought the food served was good. Thirty-three per cent of the students in Jharkhand and 23% in Karnataka and Punjab said they were not satisfied with the meals.
The study also shows that most states have a long way to go in terms of infrastructure. Of the surveyed schools, 17% did not have proper drinking water facilities, while in West Bengal dirty pond water was used for cooking and washing purposes. In West Bengal, 30% of the surveyed schools did not have the mandatory kitchen sheds either while schools in Jharkhand cooked the mid-day meal in open fields. Only 44% of the schools were equipped with kitchen sheds, out of which only about half are in a serviceable condition. While most schools are equipped with pucca buildings, 52% and 33% schools operate out of kuchcha buildings in Bihar and West Bengal respectively. On an average, 28% of the schools across the country lack toilets; in Arunachal, the figure is 17%.
The Cooked Mid Day Meal Scheme aims at addressing hunger in schools, improving nutritional status of children and encouraging children from disadvantaged sections to attend school. The Performance Evaluation of the scheme was conducted by the Plan panel following a directive by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in 2006.
The survey, however, is not all bad news. The scheme has reached its targeted beneficiaries with 40% of the students taking mid-day meals coming from the OBC category, 23% from SC category, 12% from ST category and 24% from other categories. It has also been found to have successfully addressed classroom hunger and helped increase attendance at most schools and in tandem with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan awareness campaign, helped retain students in schools, the study concludes.
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