Unit IX Midday meal scheme as a socialisation process

Unit IX Midday meal scheme as a socialisation process

Objectives of midday meal scheme – Benefits of midday meal scheme on education - Midday meal scheme as a socialization process with special reference to Tamil Nadu.

Introduction

The concept of midday meal scheme is not new in India as its roots can be traced back to pre-independence era when British administration initiated a Midday Meal Programme for disadvantage children in Madras Municipal Corporation in 1925. Tamil Nadu became the first state in India to introduce a noon meal programme in primary schools. In 1984 this scheme was introduced in Gujarat. From time to time the meal scheme was taken up by different states and later on it was taken up as a national scheme.

What is Mid-Day Meal

The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal programme of the Government of India designed to improve the nutritional status of school-age children nationwide. Neither a child that is hungry, nor a child that is ill can be expected to learn. Realizing this need the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme was launched in primary schools during 1962-63.

Mid-Day Meal improves three areas:

1.      School attendance

2.      Reduced dropouts

3.      A beneficial impact on children’s nutrition.

The National Programme on Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE) commonly known as Midday Meal Programme was launched as a centrally sponsored Scheme on the 15th August 1995 by providing dry ration @ 100 grams per child per day.In September 2004, the scheme was revised to provide cooked Mid-Day Meal with 300 calories and 8-12 grams of protein to all children studying in Class 1-V (Govt. and Aided Primary) including Special Training centres. In addition to free supply of food grains, the revised scheme also provides cooking cost @ 1/- per child per day.In the year 2007-08, the Mid Day Meal was extended to Upper Primary Schools all over the country.

Objectives of Midday Meal Scheme

Primary Objective

—     Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger among children particularly economically disadvantaged so as to improve their nutritional & health status.

Other Objectives

— Achieving universal primary education, motivation for further education, increasing enrolment, retention & reducing dropouts.

— Reducing child mortality, morbidity & malnutrition.

— Combating all diseases including those resulting due to deficiencies.

— Reduce gender gap in education.

— To enhance social value & foster equity thus eroding caste prejudices & class inequality.

History of Midday Meals Scheme (MDMS)

Initiatives by state governments to children began with their launch of a mid-day meal programme in primary schools in the 1962–63 school year. Tamil Nadu is a pioneer in introducing mid-day meal programmes in India to increase the number of kids coming to school; Thiru K. Kamaraj, then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, introduced its first in Chennai and later extended it to all districts of Tamil Nadu.

During 1982, July 1^st onwards, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Thiru. M. G. Ramachandran upgraded the existing Mid-day meal scheme in the state to 'Nutritious food scheme' keeping in the mind that 68 lakh children suffer malnutrition.

Gujarat was the second state to introduce an MDM scheme in 1984, but it was later discontinued.A midday meal scheme was introduced in Kerala in 1984, and was gradually expanded to include more schools and grades

Benefits of Midday Meal Scheme on education

·         By the report of Ministry Human Resource development 9.78 crore children benefited from hot cooked nutritious food in 11.40 lakh schools during 2016-17.

·         Beyond the immediate impact on hunger and nutrition, the Midday Meal Scheme has provided a strong incentive for parents to send their children to school.

·         Previous studies on primary education in rural India have suggested that midday meals enhance school participation, especially among girls.

·         Providing meals puts an end to the phenomenon of classroom hunger.

·         Midday meals contribute to socialisation, in a caste and class-ridden society. It has been noted that the experience of sharing a common meal helps erode caste prejudices and class inequities.

·         Drop-out rates have shown a decline.

Implications of MDMS on School Education

·         01.07.1982  -    PTMGR Nutritious Meal Programm  was launched in Primary Schools for classes I - V and to Pre-School Children of 2-5 years in Rural areas.

·         15.09.1982   –   Further extended to Urban areas.

·         15.09.1984   -    Extended to the Children of VI – X std.

Tamil Nadu has also covered high school students under the midday meal scheme. The centre’s mid-day meal scheme is only for the primary and middle school students. The contribution of state government in addition to what the centre allocates for mid-day meals is much higher in comparison to that of other states. Tamil Nadu has gone about implementing the scheme in a more organised way.

The payment to the noon meal organiser (NMO) in the state is Rs.7,000, the cook and helper gets Rs. 5,000 each. Tamil Nadu is the only state which recruits NMOs to organise midday meals. Civil society is now pressing the Tamil Nadu government to expand its menu. “Besides eggs and potatoes, we are demanding inclusion ofmillets and other coarse grains in the scheme”.

MDMS as a Socialization Process in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu, in fact, could serve as a model for the rest of poor performing states as far as implementing mid-day meals is concerned. Complaint boxes have been installed in every school, BDO offices, district and state offices to redress grievances. Tamil Nadu has also covered high school students under the mid-day meal scheme. The Centre's mid-day meal scheme is only for primary and middles chool students. The contribution of state government in addition to what the Centre allocates for mid-day meals is much higher in comparison to that of other states. Under this programme, almost 80 per cent of students of state get covered, which costs the state exchequer around Rs 1,500 crore.

Tamil Nadu is a pioneering state and the best example for the implementation of MDM and the institutional set up has gained maturity over the time. The process has been properly institutionalized with new and additional institutions established in order to better facilitate the implementation. The concerns of the government and state functionaries can be well estimated in terms of appointment of a full time noonmeal organiser, who is only responsible for MDM, thereby not disturbing the teaching and learning process. This signifies the government’s sensitiveness towards children, children’s education and health in the state. There is also a vigilant public who are working as a pressure group, there is also demand from the community, teachers have interest  and these all are complemented by the government’s support to the cause. Thus, from the community perspective, and from the government’s perspective, MDM is not generally a simple food programme for the children but a major state intervention for the growth of the children.

It was observed that the MDM in Tamil Nadu is a vivid example of what can be achieved when quality safeguards are in place. Each school had a cooking shed and a paid staff of three: an organizer, a cook, and a helper. All of them were women and those who are appointed, priority had been given to their education. Over the years, Noon Meal Programme (NMP) being the most prestigious programme of the state government, has successfully institutionalized by bringing together four major departments of the government with the social welfare department acting as the nodal department. Moreover there is a specific department at the district level which is dealing with the scheme only.

 The scheme is also a large employer; particularly of women belong to backward class. It has systematically appointed one organiser, one cook and one helper for the effective functioning of the scheme which no other states in India have initiated.

The financial aspects of the scheme highlighted that the scheme is indeed financially sustainable as it has been getting support from the state government as well as from the central government and international donor agencies like World Bank and CARE. Last but not the least, Tamil Nadu’s NMP has comparatively a successful case in India. But the field experience has given an input that involvement of people in  implementation of the scheme has made it a big success. Presence of a vibrant civil society as well as public demand has made the Tamil Nadu government more active and responsive in relation to the MDMS. Emphasis can also be given on the competitive politics (competition between the two major political parties) which has also made the scheme a success. But whatever the case may be Tamil Nadu NMP has taught a different lesson which other states of the union must learn to implement the scheme properly and to protect their children’s rights. The research on MDMS, shows that it is the first state which has given popular emphasis on the scheme. On the other hand, the Tamil Nadu government always kept the following four things in mind:

·         To provide adequate nutrition to economically disadvantaged children

·         To improve the health and nutritional status of children thirdly,

·         To develop their mental and physical ability and

·         To increase the enrolment in schools and reduce the dropouts

Tamil Nadu is comparatively a successful state regarding the implementation of MDMS. It is observed that there are different factors that made the scheme more effective and vibrant as comparative to other states in India.

Conclusion

The experience so far clearly shows that mid-day meals have much to contribute to the well-being and future of Indian children. However, qualitative improvements are urgently required if the meals are to achieve their full potential.