Meager budget failing mid-day meal's purpose?

Published on:

12 Aug 2015, 12:00 am

Mid Day Meal (MDM), the ambitious scheme of the Government of India to provide nutritious food to the students of Government schools is failing in its objective due to meager budget provided to the schools under the scheme. The schools are supposed to provide MDM at the rate of Rs3.76 per day per child in primary schools and Rs5.64 in Upper Primary schools. The schools in Uttarakhand are provided rice from the Government but they had to manage other food items on their own from the budget provided.

The teachers are given responsibility of managing MDM in their schools. Bhojan Matas are employed in the schools to prepare the meal for the students. The teachers are of the view that with the increasing cost of pulses and other items it is getting very difficult for them to provide the meal as per the norms. It is learnt that the major problem is faced by the teachers posted in the schools with less student strength. One such teacher posted in a remote school in Pauri Garhwal district said that there are only eight students in his school and it becomes very difficult to make Dal with 160 gm measurement. He added that as per the weekly diet plan the school had to purchase all types of pulses which are in excess of `120 per kilo gram these days, further the edible oil and ghee too are very costly. He said that the schools have to manage the cost of fuel, green vegetables and other things in the same budget. One teacher posted in Dehradun district said that the department insists on good quality and insists that the students are provided special diets like Kheer and Chole Puri on occasions like Independence Day, Republic Day, Teacher's Day, Children's Day and others to the students in the same budget failing which strict disciplinary action is taken against them. He lamented that the Teacher Organisations which rake up all sort of issues never advocate for this very relevant matter. Many teachers claimed that they had to spend from their pockets to ensure that the students get proper MDM as per the norms.

When contacted the Joint Director (JD) MDM, P K Bisht accepted that due to increase in prices of food items it is difficult for the schools with less student strength to manage MDM. He informed that the 5 percent increase in the allocation for MDM was made in this financial year. Bisht said that the department had advocated in the meeting of Project Approval Board (PAB) that the schools with less than 20 students should be given Rs 6 per student in primary and Rs 7 in Upper Primary schools; the proposal though was not accepted. The President of district unit of Prathemik Shiksak Sangh (PSS) V S Krishali said that the issue of MDM would be raised in the meeting of state body on August 17.

The Union government and state government bear the cost of MDM in the ratio of 75: 25. The HRD ministry mandates a minimum amount for the state government under MDM but there is no upper limit. The state like Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Chandigarh provide more than their mandatory share so that the teachers do not get difficulty in providing nutritious food to the students but unfortunately the case is not so in Uttarakhand.