The Pratichi · Kolkata District Primary School Council Sarva Siksha Mission, Birbhum Authorities of the Study Districs All Our Respondents 5. ... (Murshidabad, Birbhum, Bankura,

The PratichiReport on Mid-Day Meal

Pratichi (India) TrustFebruary 2010

The Mid-Day Meal Programme inUrban Primary and Rural Upper Primary Schools in

West Bengal

2

The Pratichi Report on Mid-Day Meal :The Mid-Day Meal Programme in Urban Primary andRural Upper Primary Schools in West Bengal

First Published February 2010

© Pratichi (India) Trust

Pratichi (India) TrustChair: Amartya SenManaging Trustee: Antara Dev Sen

Registered OfficeA 708, Anandlok, Mayur Vihar IDelhi 110091

Pratichi Research Team76, Uttar Purbachal Road, Kolkata 700078Phone +91 33 24844229Fax +91 24843205E mail: [email protected]

Santiniketan Project Office“Sujan”, Deer Park, Santiniketan, 731235

Edited by A J Philip

Publication support:Sarva Siksha Mission, Birbhum

Photo Credit : Pratichi Research Team

Cover Design : Sanjay Chatterjee

Printed at S.S. Print, Kolkata 700 009

3

STUDY TEAM

Manabesh SarkarParomita HaldarSantabhanu SenArabinda Nandy

Kumar Rana (Co-ordination)

ASSISTANCE

Saumik MukherjeeDebajyoti BoseSumanta Paul

The PratichiReport on Mid-Day Meal

The Mid-Day Meal Programme inUrban Primary and Rural Upper Primary Schools in

West Bengal

4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Amartya SenAntara Dev SenA J PhilipDinesh K BhattGautam GhoshSukumar RoyManoj DeyPallav GoswamiSaumitra SenguptaParthendu Chakar-Kriti MukherjeeKiriti MukherjeeAll Bengal Primary Teachers’ AssociationWest Bengal Primary Teachers’ AssociationDepartment of School Education, Government ofWest BengalKolkata Municipal CorporationKolkata District Primary School CouncilSarva Siksha Mission, BirbhumAuthorities of the Study DistricsAll Our Respondents

5

CONTENTS

1. Introduction 7

2. Implementation of Mid-Day Meal 18in the Urban Primary Schools

3. Implementation of Mid-Day Meal at the 29Upper Primary Schools of West Bengal

4. A concluding remark 42

Notes and References 44

Persons met 47

6

7

1. I1. I1. I1. I1. INTRODUCTIONNTRODUCTIONNTRODUCTIONNTRODUCTIONNTRODUCTION

The Government of India launched in 1995 a programme called the

National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education

(popularly known as the Mid-Day Meal Scheme), in which free

cooked meal was to be provided to all the children studying in

government, local body and government-aided primary schools

during all school days. This appears to be the largest school feeding

programme in the world.

The object of this programme was to give a boost to

universalisation of primary education by increasing enrolment,

retention and attendance and, simultaneously, meet the nutritional

requirements of students in primary classes, as stated by the

Government of India1 . Such a programme, however, had been in

operation in some of the Indian states. Indeed, Tamil Nadu played

a pioneering role in introducing it first in 8,000 selected primary

schools in 19562. Notwithstanding the positive impact the Tamil

Nadu scheme made on primary education and the Central

Government’s announcement, many of the states failed to comply

fully with the Central directives.

Instead of providing cooked meal to the school children, most of

the states distributed three kilograms of foodgrains per child per

month. It was only after the landmark order of the Supreme Court

on November 28, 2001, directing all State Governments and Union

Territories to provide cooked food in every government and

government-assisted primary schools that the scenario began to

change. The order was issued in connection with a public interest

litigation on the right to food initiated by Peoples’ Union for Civil

Liberties, Rajasthan. According to this order, “Those Governments

providing dry rations, instead of cooked meals, must within three

months start providing cooked meals in all government and

8

government-aided primary schools in half the districts of the state

(in the order of poverty) and must, within a further period of three

months, extend the provision of cooked meals to the remaining

parts of the state.”3 . The Supreme Court directed the State

Governments and Union Territories to serve prepared Mid-Day

Meal in every government and government-assisted primary schools

with a minimum content of 300 calories and 8-12 grams of protein,

each day of the school for a minimum of 200 days.

The Government of West Bengal, ultimately, came up to meet

the demands of the Supreme Court and started introducing it from

2003. However, as soon as West Bengal overcame the initial hiccups

in complying with the popular demand and the Supreme Court order

to implement the programme in every primary school, including the

Sishu Shiksha Kendras, the programme spread in the rural areas with

remarkable speed. The beginning was made with some 1,100 primary

schools in five districts (Murshidabad, Birbhum, Bankura, Paschim

Midnapore and Jalpaiguri) in 2003. Subsequently, the programme was

extended to other districts. In the initial stages of introduction, there

were vigorous debates on the programme.

The debates were essentially a conflict between two classes of

people, viz., the affluent section and the marginalised and

disadvantaged people. While the majority of the Scheduled Caste,

Scheduled Tribe, Muslims and other poor people wanted a cooked

Mid-Day Meal for their children in the school, the relatively affluent

sections of the society thought this as not only completely

unnecessary but also hazardous and harmful to schooling. The Mid-

Day Meal Scheme brought forth the social division of West Bengal

anew4 . However, despite many resistances, confusions and anxieties,

the programme was implemented in the primary schools throughout

West Bengal. By 2008-09, 90 per cent of the primary schools have

been brought under the fold of this programme.5

Pratichi (India) Trust has been advocating implementation of this

programme. In accordance with its findings of studies made on the

delivery of primary education in West Bengal in 2001-02, it strongly

suggested replacement of dry ration with cooked mid-day meal6 .

The Pratichi Report on Mid-Day Meal

9

The Trust carried out two studies on Mid-Day Meal, one in 2004,immediately after the introduction of cooked Mid-Day Meal in West

Bengal and the other in 2005-06. There has been tremendousprogress in bringing the underprivileged children into the fold of

primary schooling. Also, the expansion of the MDM programme tocover almost all rural primary schools and SSKs has had a positive

impact on the rate of attendance. The recent Pratichi study onprimary education in West Bengal found immense improvement in

enrolment and rate of attendance of children after the introductionof MDM in primary schools and SSKs. The implementation of the

MDM programme, which is a crucial public intervention, has had aradical impact on the primary schooling system and also on the West

Bengal society as a whole. This has been corroborated by our

finding, although there are some causes of concern. 7

SSSSSOMEOMEOMEOMEOME OFOFOFOFOF THETHETHETHETHE MAJORMAJORMAJORMAJORMAJOR CONTRIBUTIONSCONTRIBUTIONSCONTRIBUTIONSCONTRIBUTIONSCONTRIBUTIONS OFOFOFOFOF THETHETHETHETHE M M M M MIDIDIDIDID-D-D-D-D-DAAAAAYYYYY M M M M MEALEALEALEALEAL

PPPPPROGRAMMEROGRAMMEROGRAMMEROGRAMMEROGRAMME INININININ THETHETHETHETHE R R R R RURALURALURALURALURAL P P P P PRIMARYRIMARYRIMARYRIMARYRIMARY S S S S SCHOOLSCHOOLSCHOOLSCHOOLSCHOOLS ANDANDANDANDAND S S S S SSKSKSKSKSKSSSSS

(F(F(F(F(FROMROMROMROMROM OUROUROUROUROUR EARLIEREARLIEREARLIEREARLIEREARLIER STUDIESSTUDIESSTUDIESSTUDIESSTUDIES ONONONONON M M M M MIDIDIDIDID-----DADADADADAYYYYY M M M M MEALEALEALEALEAL)))))

The MDM scheme has not only acted as a catalyst for improving theenrolment and attendance of the children, but has also exerted apositive influence on universalisation of elementary educationthrough eliminating classroom hunger and reducing the gender gapin education. The programme has also contributed successfullytowards reducing absenteeism among the teachers. All these factorsare closely connected with improvements in schooling which, to alarge extent, has been influenced by the Mid-Day Meal programme.It has played a major role in reducing the gap of social distancesamong children. Many evidences suggest the scope of MDM inidentifying and narrowing down the gap. It was reported in manycases that the children defied the mandates of their parents andshared the food together.The programme has also created scope, especially for the ruralwomen, to engage in some sort of income-generating activities.The programme has provided ample opportunity for the parents andlocal people to get involved with the schooling and take part in theoverall governance of the school.It has helped in streamlining the infrastructure facilities of the schoolsuch as kitchen shed, tube wells, toilets, classrooms etc.


10

The SSKs are now provided with MDM. This was not the case

when we did our first study in 2001-2002. Students of government

primary schools were also not provided mid-day meals but they were

allocated 3 kgs of rice per student per month. The SSK children

were not entitled to even this meagre quantity of rice.

In spite of the positive lessons of the programme launched in

the rural primary schools and the tremendous necessity of such a

programme for the urban primary school children, most of the

primary schools in urban areas have not yet been covered under it:

the extent of coverage in Kolkata has been, as on March 31, 2009,

a meagre 31 per cent (see table-1.1 for details). According to the

Additional Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal, the space problem for

constructing kitchen sheds in school premises was the main reason

for the low coverage of the programme in Kolkata as well as in the

urban areas of North and South 24 Parganas8. Whether this was the

main reason for such low coverage of Mid-Day Meal in urban areas

requires an inquiry.

The launching of the programme at upper primary level has

actually started, along with other Indian states, in 2008-09.9 So far,

about half of the schools (54 per cent to be exact) of upper primary

schools have been brought under the fold of the programme.10

Despite the relatively quicker pace of coverage, the programme at

the upper primary level has been facing several problems, including

occasional interruptions and complete withdrawal in some schools.

There seems to be a common link between the problems of

implementations of the programme in the urban primary schools

and the upper primary schools of rural areas.

OVERALL POSITION OF MDM IN WEST BENGAL

The cooked Mid-day Meal programme was launched in the state in

2003 on an experimental basis in some selected primary schools and

by 2005 it was extended to cover almost all rural primary schools. At

the end of 2008-09, 90 percent of all primary schools in West Bengal

are covered under this scheme (the all India coverage being 97 per


11

cent, West Bengal is ahead only of Manipur and Bihar),11 but, a

major chunk of the primary schools in the urban areas are still left

uncovered. The launching of the MDM at the upper primary level

in West Bengal was started in 2008-09.

Table-1.1 shows the district-wise coverage of the programme at

primary stage in West Bengal. The lower position in comparison to

the all-India average is mainly due to the non-coverage of this

programme in urban areas in the state. From table-1.1, we find that

the coverage of this programme is the lowest in Kolkata (a meagre

31 per cent). And barring some exception like Howrah, districts with

higher urban population have seen lower coverage of Mid-Day Meal

in the primary schools. Though the wider coverage of this

programme in rural areas highlights the positive impact and

possibilities of the programme, the lacklustre performance in the

urban areas, even after six years of the launching of this programme,

raises doubts about the seriousness of attitude or political will for its

implementation. As a result of this non-coverage, a large section of

the poor children in urban areas are deprived of their rights to

nutritional security as well as educational guarantee.


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Table-1.1 Coverage of Mid-Day Meal Schemein West Bengal for Primary Level (till March 31, 2009)

1 Bankura 4433 395530 4433 100 395530 1002 Birbhum 3529 400166 3398 96 338194 853 Burdwan 6116 744610 5253 86 526682 714 CoochBehar 2902 366130 2795 96 223771 615 D/Dinajpur 1946 229788 1743 90 229788 1006 U/Dinajpur 2627 437382 2627 100 352585 817 DGHC 1494 84344 1489 100 84344 1008 Hoogly 3956 488342 3287 83 353342 729 Howrah 2965 341178 2892 98 341178 10010 Jalpaiguri 3535 482977 3521 100 482977 10011 Kolkata 2739 263510 862 31 69274 2612 Malda 2920 528169 2669 91 439696 8313 Murshidabad 5541 968288 5510 99 627184 6514 E/Medinipur 5512 546331 5512 100 494704 9115 W/Medinipur 8116 667866 7927 98 567437 8516 Nadia 3853 559476 3368 87 559476 10017 N/24Pgs 5670 779436 4551 80 596854 7718 S/24Pgs 5973 877177 4407 74 518001 5919 Purulia 3995 363592 3888 97 363592 10020 Siliguri 759 115057 711 94 106400 92

Total 78581 9639348 70843 90 7671009 80

Source: School Education Department, Govt. of West Bengal, 2009

The non-introduction of MDM at primary level is found to behigher in the districts with higher urban population. The top fivedistricts in terms of non-introduction are eventually the districtswith substantial urbanisation (Chart 1).

But, in the case of the upper primary schools, no such rural-urban divide was found. For example, on December 31, 2008,Dakhshin Dinajpur (with a smaller urban population) and Hoogly(with considerable urban population) districts had not yet started theimplementation of MDM at the upper primary level (see table-1.2).Fifty four per cent schools in West Bengal at the upper primary levelhave come under the coverage of this programme against the all-

Sl.No.

Name of thedistrict

No. ofschools(Class I

to V)

No. ofstudents

No. ofschoolsservingMDM

Percentageof schools

servingMDM

No. ofstudentshavingMDM

Percentageof students

havingMDM


13

India average of 89 per cent.12 Table-1.2 shows the present status ofnon-introduction of this programme at the upper primary level in

some districts of West Bengal.

Table 1.2.District-wise non-introduction of Mid-Day Meal atUpper Primary Level (as on December 31, 2008)*

Districts No. of children as approved Percentageby the Mid-Day Meal NOT coveredProgramme Approval Board

Dakshin Dinajpur 82444 100Hooghly 225149 100Kolkata 120953 100Nadia 24773 97North 24 Parganas 370754 94South 24 Parganas 323235 90Barddhaman 298217 89Jalpaiguri 177664 80Siliguri 43031 71Howrah 181614 70Kochbihar 148966 63Maldah 171965 56Birbhum 159222 53Total 3816192 58*figures of all districts not availableSource: Minutes of the Meeting of the Programme Approval Board for Mid-Day Meal Schemeon March 26, 2009; Government of India, Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment, Department of School Education and Literacy, Mid-Day MealDivision.

Source: School Education Department, Govt. of West Bengal


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PRESENT STUDY

Aside from the studies carried out on Mid-Day Meal, the Trust’sresearch team has incorporated an inquiry on the issue in its recentlyconcluded wider study on the delivery of primary education in WestBengal.13 Nevertheless, all these investigations and studies carriedout by others pertained to the rural primary schools alone; there hasnot been any study worth the name on the implementation of theMid-Day Meal programme in the urban primary schools and in therural upper primary schools. The public discussions organised byus14, the experiences of our collaborative interventions with theteachers’ unions in Kolkata15 and other sources of informationshowed that there were gaps in the implementation of the MDM inthe primary schools in urban areas and in the upper primary schoolsin the rural areas. This added urgency to carrying out a study in thesetwo sectors in order to develop a fuller understanding of the issue.

The city of Kolkata was selected purposely, keeping in view thefact that the primary schools in the city consisted of a majority ofthe urban primary school children in the whole state. For the upperprimary level, we selected two districts — Maldah and Birbhum —where the literacy rates are below the state average (68.616 ) on theassumption that there was a higher relevance of the programme inthose districts. This study followed a methodology to capture indepth the intricacies involved in the implementation of theprogramme. In spite of selecting a huge sample, it emphasised theneed for a greater in-depth inquiry to see the details in their entirety.

Eight primary schools under the Kolkata Primary School Council(KPSC) and two primary schools under the Kolkata MunicipalCorporation (KMC) were chosen for the field study in Kolkata (seefor details Table 1.3a).

For the upper primary level, three blocks, each from Maldah andBirbhum, were selected randomly. From each block, two schoolswere chosen. The selected schools included those having the MDMin operation and those where it had not yet been introduced (see fordetails Table 1.3b). However, because of constraint of time, it wasnot possible for us to carry out the investigation in one of theselected upper primary schools in Birbhum district. Thus, the totalnumber of upper primary schools covered under the study was 11,


15

instead of 12. The field study was carried out between the middle ofJuly 2009 and middle of September 2009.

A BRIEF NOTE ON THE AREA OF STUDY

Kolkata, one of the 19 districts in West Bengal and the maincommercial centre of Eastern India with many industries, is thecapital of West Bengal. It is one of the mega cities of India. It is themain centre of higher education in West Bengal. The populationdensity of Kolkata is very high — 24,718 per sq km17 . AlthoughKolkata occupies only 0.2 per cent of the area of West Bengal, itspopulation is nearly 6 per cent of the state population. Thepercentage of different social identities in the population of Kolkatais 6.0, 0.2, 20.3 and 73.5 per cent for SC, ST, Muslim and othersrespectively. There are many people in Kolkata who speak languagesother than Bengali. The literacy rate in the city is 80.9 per cent; forwomen it is 73.3 per cent.18 Primary education in the city is managedmainly by two authorities, namely the KPSC and the KMC. Underthe KMC, there are two types of primary institutions, viz. KolkataMunicipal Corporation Primary (KMCP) schools and Sishu SikshaKendras (SSKs). There are a sizeable number of private-runinstitutions also. The implementing authorities of Mid-Day Meal inKolkata are the KPSC Chairman (with District Inspector, Primary)and KMC, unlike the other districts where the District Magistrate isthe highest authority for its implementation. Table-1.3a shows thelist of schools in Kolkata where the field studies were made.


16

Table-1.3a. Name of the primary-level schools visited inKolkata

Sl Regu- Name of the Address of the ProvidingNo. lating school school MDM

authority or not

1. KPSC Rishi Bankim Vidyapith 2C, Rani Harshamukhi YesRoad, Kol-37

2 Belgachia Monohar 5/1 Olaichandi Road, NoAcademy Kol-37

3 Belgachia Swamiji 64,Belgachia Road, YesSiksha Niketan GSFP Belgachia, Villa

Housing Estate, Kol-374 Sree Nehru Vidyapith 1B/18, Dum Dum Stopped

Road, Kol-375 Sobhasona Smriti G.S Sakuntala Park, Yes

Biren Roy Road, Kol-616 Bangamoni Vidyapith 7/3 Biren Roy Road No

(West), Kol-87 Bastuhara Vidyapith 28,Canal South Road Yes

Kol-158 Jayasree Vidyaniketan 15,Barawaritala Road No

Kol-109 KMC KMCP School (UDB) 1/5 Raja Dinendra Stopped

Street Kol-910 KMCP School 17/1 Monosatala Lane, No

Kol-23

Birbhum and Malda are two districts which are dependent mainlyon agriculture. In Birbhum, a part of the district adjacent to the coalbelt of Bardhaman is enriched with coal mines too. The percentagesof cultivators and agricultural labourers among the total workers are23 and 37 for Birbhum and 21 and 31 for Malda respectively. Theshares of SC, ST and Muslims in the total population are 29, 7 and35 per cent for Birbhum and 17, 7 and 50 per cent for Maldarespectively. Thus, both the districts are inhabited mainly by thesocially oppressed groups of people (71 and 74 per centrespectively). The literacy rates of these two districts are 61 and 50per cent respectively whereas they are 52 and 41 per cent respectivelyfor women19. Birbhum has three subdivisions and Malda has twosubdivisions. The list of the schools visited in these two districts isin table-1.3b.


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Table-1.3b.Name of the upper primary schools visited

District Subdivision Block Name of the School ProvidingMDM ornot

Birbhum Sadar Rajnagar Laujore High School YesBandi Madhyamik Siksha Kendra Yes

Bolpur Bolpur- Panchshowa Rabindra Vidyapith StoppedSriniketan Binuria Sumitra Balika Vidyalaya Yes

Rampurhat Nalhati-II Bhadrapur Maharaja No*Nandakumar High School

Sadar Gazole Hatimari High School StoppedEklakhi Mission Girls High School Yes

Malda Kaliachak Baishnabnagar High School No*-III Bhagobanpur KBS High School Yes

Chanchal Chanchal Jodupur High School Yes-II Jalalpur HRA High School yes**

*Introduced for Std V but that too has stopped now.

**However, on the day of visit it was stopped due to religious occasion (roja).

THE REPORT

This report is divided into four parts. The first, the present one,

introduces the study, with a description of its area and methodology.

The second section deals with the aspects of implementation of the

programme in urban primary schools, while the third captures the

MDM in upper primary schools in rural areas. The last section

makes a quick round-up.

We hope that this report would help in generating public debates

and discussions on MDM, an issue of central importance, and

thereby influence public policies on this issue.


18

2.2.2.2.2. IIIIIMPLEMENTMPLEMENTMPLEMENTMPLEMENTMPLEMENTAAAAATIONTIONTIONTIONTION OFOFOFOFOF M M M M MIDIDIDIDID-D-D-D-D-DAAAAAYYYYY M M M M MEALEALEALEALEAL INININININ THETHETHETHETHE

UUUUURBANRBANRBANRBANRBAN P P P P PRIMARYRIMARYRIMARYRIMARYRIMARY S S S S SCHOOLSCHOOLSCHOOLSCHOOLSCHOOLS

Kajal Das, a student of Standard IV of Shree Nehru Vidyapith (a

primary school in Kolkata) could hardly bring anything from home

for lunch. Usually, her mother gives her a rupee or two with which

she buys something from the vendor outside the school, but the

stuff is too insufficient to fight hunger: pet bhore na. But things were

different. There was Mid-Day Meal in the school. It was launched

some two years back, but stopped after running for a year only. Now,

Kajal and her fellow children have no other way but to face the

wrath of hunger. Her mother, Uma (a sweeper and Dalit by caste),

was candid when she said, “The Mid-Day Meal was very beneficial

to us. There was no anxiety about my child’s hunger. We are unable

to provide her any tiffin from home. God knows what happened, the

MDM programme was stopped after a few months of its

introduction.”

Uma and her daughter were not the only ones who miss the

MDM, which had found appreciation from many quarters.

According to the chairman of the Kolkata Primary School Council

(KPSC), “the Mid-Day meal is extremely necessary for about two-

thirds of the primary school children in Kolkata”. (In his estimate,

about 100,000 out of 162,000 children enrolled in the primary

schools have a very poor background). Regrettably, in spite of such

recognition, only 9 per cent of the primary school children here are

being provided with Mid-Day Meal now. The present position of the

Mid-Day Meal Programme in the primary-level schools of Kolkata

is shown in table-2.1.

19

Table-2.1.Coverage of Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Kolkata atthe Primary Level

Total No. No. of No. of % of No. of % of

of School Students schools schools students studentsserving serving having havingMDM MDM MDM MDM

Primary school 1203 162000* 120 10 14360 8.9(till July 27, 2009)

KMCP school 252 27663 189 75 21437 77.5(till April’09)

Kolkata(total**)(till March’09) 2739 263510 862 31.5 69274 26.3

* As stated by KPSC Chairman (actual figures not available),** Includes the Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) and the Alternative &

Innovative Education (AIE) centres too.Source: KPSC; Education Department KMC; School Education Department,

Govt. of West Bengal

THE URGENCY OF MID-DAY MEAL IN KOLKATA

A teacher of a school where MDM has not been introduced

informed us that most of their students belonged to poor families.

But as MDM was not provided in their school, parents were keen on


20

enrolling their children in a neighbouring school where the

programme was in operation. This resulted in a reduction in the

enrolment in their school. A teacher of a school where MDM was

provided told us that after the introduction of MDM in 2007, the

attendance of the students had increased. On the contrary, a teacher

of a school where MDM was never introduced said that they were

compelled to close the school early as the children became

inattentive owing to hunger.

Sree Nehru Vidyapith is a Hindi medium primary school in NorthKolkata. It functions in a nearly dilapidated rented building. The onlyroom with tiled roof that houses the classes is on the verge ofcollapse. There are only two teachers in this school. The parents whohave no other alternative enrol their children here. According to ateacher, this school is for the poorest of the poor in the locality.MDM was a crucial intervention as could be inferred from the waythe children enjoyed the meal. This is how the teacher described thesituation: “Hearing the noise of the cart carrying MDM, the childrenstart wrapping up their study materials. And, when the cart reachesthe school, the children shout with excitement, “gari aa gaiyee (the carthas come).” He became emotional while telling the story. But thishappy situation is no longer prevalent in the school as theprogramme has been stopped. As a result, the enrolment in the

school has fallen sharply.

We have observed during the fieldwork that a section of the

children remained hungry throughout the school period. Also, they

did not have any certainty of getting food when they returned home.

Another section of the children were found to be in a slightly better

condition as their parents could provide them a rupee or two to buy

something for lunch (as in the case of Kajal narrated above). There

was another section of children who could bring some food from

home while coming to school, though they, too, had a weaker

economic background. In the schools where the programme has

already been in operation, the parents of almost all the children

praised the programme as it was beneficial for their children as well

as their families. In the schools where the MDM was yet to be

launched, parents demanded that the programme be launched

without further delay.


21

According to the Chairperson of the KPSC, “A majority of the

children enrolled in the government primary schools belong to poor

families.” It has generally been seen that in the urban areas the

affluent sections have a growing inclination towards enrolling their

children in private schools.20

Aside from the general relevance of policy implementation, the

particular needs of the children of the Kolkata primary schools

added urgency to the launching of the programme. But, regrettable

as it was, even after nearly a decade of the Supreme Court order on

the implementation of the programme, more than two-thirds of all

the Kolkata primary schools (run under the Kolkata Municipal

Corporation – KMC and the KPSC and others) still remained

uncovered. Again, the schools run by the KPSC were far too

deprived — only 10 per cent of them have this programme in

operation. The level of implementation in the KMC schools was

better — 75 per cent. But, given the small number of KMCP

schools (252 as opposed to 1203 run by KPSC) the right to food of

a large majority of the children of Kolkata was still a dream (see

table-2.1 for details).

MANAGEMENT OF MID-DAY MEAL

The system of management of Mid-Day Meal has some differences

with that of the system followed in the rural areas. While the

programme in the Alternative and Innovative Education (AIE)

centres in Kolkata was run by some selected NGOs, the

implementation in the KMC and KPSC-run schools was in the

hands of Neighbourhood Committees (NHC) consisting of some

Neighbourhood Groups. Each committee was given the

responsibility of running the programme in a cluster of schools. The

operational aspects included, maintaining the store, buying the

materials for cooking and preparing the food in a central kitchen and

making the food available to the schools under the cluster. Keeping

the books and submitting the accounts to the concerned officials

(not the teacher) was also included in their activities. The allotted


22

amount was released through cheque issued in favour of the

respective committees. (In the rural areas, the teacher-in-charge has

to take much of these responsibilities. Though cooking was done by

the SHG members, the handling of fund, accounting, and even

procuring of the materials was to be done by the teacher-in-charge.).

The role of the teacher-in-charge in the Kolkata primary schools as

regards the implementation of the Mid-Day Meal was supervisory in

nature.

CENTRAL KITCHEN

The concept of a central kitchen has been discussed in the

Guidelines of Revised National Programme of Nutritional Support

to Primary Education 2004 which indicated the possibility of

running a central kitchen in the urban areas with the involvement of

NGOs.21 In Kolkata, the Central Government’s concept of a central

kitchen by the NGOs has been in operation only in the AIE centres.

In the primary schools the central kitchen was run by the NHCs.

As most of the primary schools in Kolkata suffered from severe

space constraint, the central kitchen proved to be very useful in

avoiding this difficulty. However, this arrangement has some other

disadvantages. For example, the school-specific kitchen in the rural

areas has offered much larger scope for parental participation in the

process of MDM and eventually in the functioning of schools. But,

given the practical difficulties in the urban areas, the compromise

was, perhaps, unavoidable. Nevertheless, although the central kitchen

has been effective in eliminating the space constraint, it has its

negative implication on the cooking agencies as they have to bear an

additional cost in the form of transportation of the food to the

schools. With the severely low amount of conversion cost allocated

(more on this presently), this additional cost was found to have a

negative bearing on the NHC.


23

(more on this presently), children found this a sort of extra-

curricular activity.

However, a section of the children, belonging to the relatively

affluent section, were inclined to skip the meal, mainly because of

the poor quality. It was found that some such children who used to

share the Mid-Day Meal had now stopped doing so as the quality

had deteriorated. However, they appeared keen to share the meal if

the quality was improved.

THE ACCEPTANCE OF MID-DAY MEAL

Our field observations brought out very clearly that the programme,

despite its limited implementation, has exerted a very positive impact

on the society. We present below the perceptions of the different

sections involved in the programme — the children, parents and the

teachers.

ACCEPTANCE AMONG THE CHILDREN

Most of the children interviewed were found to accept the Mid-Day

Meal scheme welcomingly. While it was essential for the children

who remained hungry most of the time, almost all other children,

irrespective of their background, were found to enjoy the sharing of

food. Despite having complaints on the quality of the meal served


24

ACCEPTANCE AMONG THE PARENTS

It was evident to us that the parents, particularly the poor, had a very

positive view on the scheme. In the schools where the programme

was operational, parents wanted it to continue and improve, and in

the schools yet to launch the scheme, they wanted this to be

introduced without any delay. “Mid-Day Meal is effective for

economic reasons; it is also very important that all the children take

the food together,” asserted a parent. Not only this, “We are ready

to co-operate, according to our capabilities, in the running of the

Mid-Day Meal programme”.

However, most of the parents had a lot of complaints about the

quality of the meal. While a majority of them had a relatively

affluent background, the poor also grumbled against the poor quality

of the food. The cooks conceded that the grumbling of the parents

and the children was genuine. Many of the parents demanded that

the Mid-Day Meal be continued in the schools with improved quality.

There was a section of parents, however, who preferred a dry

ration,22 instead of cooked Mid-Day Meal. Because of the socio-

economic status, their voice was more powerful than those who

belonged to the weaker sections. The affluent section, as happened

in the initial phase of the launching of the programme in the rural

areas, apprehended that the implementation of cooked meal was a

compromise with the quality of schooling. This approach seemed to

have a powerfully negative impact on the implementation of the

programme. The voices demanding cooked food were many but

weak. On the contrary, those who opposed it were small in number,

though more influential.

ACCEPTANCE AMONG THE TEACHERS

The teachers were found to be divided on the issue of cooked meal.

While some were very supportive of the programme, some were

found to be negative. A teacher in Bastuhara Vidyapith reportedly

took a lot of initiative for the introduction of MDM in his school.


25

To induce confidence among the parents, the teachers of that school

used to taste the cooked meal publicly. But some were found to be

against the cooked programme, despite recognising its beneficial

aspects. For example, in a school where the programme was not yet

launched, the enrolment of children started falling when students

migrated to a neighbouring school where cooked food was served.

Yet, the teacher was not ready to accept the cooked meal programme

in her school. Instead, she thought that some sort of dry food

should be distributed among the children.

Similarly, another teacher maintained that classroom hunger made

the children inattentive in the late hours of the school and the

teachers were compelled to close the school before the scheduled

closing time. Yet, he was found to be reluctant to introduce MDM

in his school. There was indeed an undercurrent of resistance among

many of the teachers. The teachers’ unions, particularly the ABPTA,

were found to have started playing a major role in launching the

programme. Nevertheless, it has to go a long way in popularising it.

HURDLES TO OVERCOME

There is no doubt that the programme has been accepted by the

children, their parents and a section of the teachers. The reservations

on the programme were mainly connected with the practical

problems in its implementation. It was only a miniscule section that

opposed the essence and objective of the programme. The

recognition of the importance of the programme by the teachers’

unions has motivated them to implement the programme in right

earnest. While recognising these positive aspects, it is crucially

important to identify and eliminate the problems debilitating the

implementation of the programme in Kolkata. Some of the major

problems are discussed below:

1. Quality of the food: the major problem involved with the

programme, as observed by the research team, was the poor, in some

cases, unpalatable, quality of the Mid-Day Meal. Often, it was

complained that the quality of rice served was of utterly inferior


26

quality (because of the poor quality of rice supplied). The quality of

pulses and other vegetables was also no better.

2. Lower fund allocation: The main reason for the poor quality reported

was the inadequacy of fund. Given the tremendous increase in the

prices of commodities, the conversion cost (Rs 2.50 per child) paid

was reported to be too insufficient. “Is it possible to provide good

quality with such a paltry sum?” asked a cook. In addition to this,

which was a general problem all over the state, the problem became

acute in Kolkata as the cooking agencies needed to pay the

transportation cost too. The amount paid for cooking was also too

small (however, there has been some enhancement very recently). In

fact, the wage paid to the cooks was less than the government

declared minimum wage. Again, it was an injustice towards the cooks

all over the state. This problem has been raised time and again in the

public meetings organised by the Pratichi (India)) Trust. While this

was a general problem for the state as a whole, in Kolkata it had a

particular bearing as the prospective cooks enjoyed better income

opportunity (working as household assistants, etc), which made it

difficult for the implementing agencies to get the cooks.

3. Delay in fund release: A major hindrance for the implementation of

the programme was reported to be the delay in releasing funds. “This

often makes us buy the required stuff on credit; but sometimes the

grocers refuse to give the materials without ready payment,” said a

member of the implementing agency. In fact, this has been one of the

major reasons for the discontinuation of the programme in some

schools. “Carrying it out on credit was taken for granted; but how can

such a system sustain?” asked an NHC member.

4. Constraints in supply of fuel: Another major problem for the

cooking agencies was reported to be the difficulty and harassment

involved in procuring cooking gas. The gas agencies allegedly insisted

on procuring commercial-purpose cylinders of 19 kg, which was very

expensive, instead of the domestic-use cylinders (14 kgs), which cost

much less. Given the lower allocation on fuel, the higher charge for

commercial-purpose cylinders posed a huge difficulty for the NHC in

managing the implementation. Apart from this, the gas agencies often

reported to have harassed the implementing agencies while supplying


27

gas. In one area, the programme had to be stopped, reportedly due

to the uncooperative attitude of the gas agencies..

5. Lack of larger participation: With the lower fund allocation and other

policy problems, the implementation of the programme was adversely

affected by the lack of larger participation of various agencies,

including the elected representatives, local institutions (clubs), parents

and local communities. The level of such participation, a feature in

the rural areas, was found to be very low in the city. No conscious

effort of bringing larger communities together to improve the

implementation of the programme was found. This apart, some local-

level political intricacies seemed to have played a role in restricting the

level of participation. In some areas, it was reported that the elected

members were involved in the implementation. But this was not the

case in some other areas. As to why this variation took place, there

were contradictory explanations: some groups said that the elected

members belonging to a different political group did not take any

interest in taking part in the process, while another group alleged that

they were not made part of it.

Secondly, the KPSC and KMC were the de facto monitoring agencies.

The inspectors of school of the two bodies were supposed to look

after this important work. While it was reported that the inspectors of

the KMC schools had played a relatively effective role in their work,

it was not the case with the KPSC inspectors. As a teacher told us, the

KMC inspector discussed with them and took note of the problems

involved in the implementation of the programme, but such a

mediatory role played by the KPSC inspectors was reported to be

limited. Again, we were told that the inspectors of the KMC schools

paid some efforts to expand the programme to the uncovered

schools, but this finding did not have general applicability for the

KPSC inspectors.

From the above discussion it is clear that, (a) the relevance and

urgency of the Mid-Day Meral programme in Kolkata is as higher as

elsewhere; the acceptance of the programme by various quarters,

even in its limited realisation, proves this point; (b) difficulties in

making arrangements such as space for cooking could be resolved


28

through some innovative ideas like having a central kitchen organised

by neighbourhood committees, which, again, is a new contribution

to the implementation of the Mid-Day Meal programme, and (c) the

paucity of resources (pitiable budget allocation) on the one hand and

the lack of a social audit system (through community involvement)

has had a negative effect on the quality of the meal which, again, has

supplied energy to the resisting voices, (d) the lower coverage of the

programme has also had some negative impact on the existing

programme — the experiences of the rural areas show that the

wider coverage of the programme had helped generate debate and

discussion among different sections of the society, and (e) finally, the

lower coverage of the programme is not linked with the “perceived”

operational difficulties, although they are there, but the main cause

of the under-coverage is the lack of political will.

The Kolkata primary schools are mainly attended by children

from the poor and voiceless and, thus, neglected sections of society.

There is a strong case for changing this attitude and bringing to the

fore the positive lessons (central kitchen by NHC, etc) to expand the

programme on an urgent basis.


29

3.3.3.3.3. IIIIIMPLEMENTMPLEMENTMPLEMENTMPLEMENTMPLEMENTAAAAATIONTIONTIONTIONTION OFOFOFOFOF M M M M MIDIDIDIDID-D-D-D-D-DAAAAAYYYYY M M M M MEALEALEALEALEAL AAAAATTTTT THETHETHETHETHE

UUUUUPPERPPERPPERPPERPPER P P P P PRIMARYRIMARYRIMARYRIMARYRIMARY S S S S SCHOOLSCHOOLSCHOOLSCHOOLSCHOOLS OFOFOFOFOF W W W W WESTESTESTESTEST B B B B BENGALENGALENGALENGALENGAL

Monica Murmu is a student of Class VIII of Hatimari High Schoolin Gazole block of Malda district. The Mid-Day Meal programme,which was launched in the school in October 2008, was stoppedafter running for a few months. “I used to enjoy it; so did myfriends”, said Monica. She could not bring anything for lunch fromhome, nor could she buy anything from the vendors as there was nomoney. “So, my stomach remains empty for the whole school time…I feel very hungry, but what to do? I can only eat after reachinghome, which is far away.” So, she has to rush on empty stomach,which makes her feel weak: “Shorir klanto lage, porte mon boshe na.Khabar jokhon dito tokhon bhalo lagto” (I feel weak and could notconcentrate on the lessons. That was not the case when food wasprovided in the school.”)

The above experience clearly suggests the prevalence ofclassroom hunger and its intrinsic relation with the education of achild. It also reaffirms the possible scope of the government-sponsored Mid-Day Meal programme as the best solution toeliminate classroom hunger.

The National Programme of providing cooked Mid-Day Mealwas extended in the upper primary schools in about 3479educationally backward blocks of the country in 2007 and wasexpected to have a universal coverage by 2008-09. But at the end of2008-09 (December 31, 2008)23 the scheme practically covered onlyabout 54 per cent of the upper primary schools and a meagre 36.6per cent of the children in West Bengal (as opposed to 89.2 per centof the upper primary schools and 69.6 per cent of the upper primarychildren in India, as on September 30, 2008)24 .

30

MID-DAY MEAL AT THE UPPER PRIMARY LEVEL: FIELD OBSERVATIONS

The responses of children, parents and teachers show thetremendous potential of the Mid-Day Meal, particularly ineliminating classroom hunger at the upper primary schools. As ageneral case, the inadequacy in the number of upper primary schoolsin West Bengal makes a school cater to a wider area. Many of thechildren, thus, come to attend the schools from quite a distance.Moreover, a large number of children come from such backgroundsthat they cannot bring something from home for lunch. Again, onesection of the students come to the school even without having anyfood at home. Monica, we have referred to above, is not an isolatedcase — we have come across many such children during thefieldwork .

The urgency of the programme was reinforced again and againduring the fieldwork. Despite such urgency and the CentralGovernment’s decision to implement the scheme, the coverage inWest Bengal, as mentioned earlier in this report, has been rather low.In the two districts covered under this study, the coverage wasslightly better than the state average (see table 3.1). However, withinthe districts, there were some block-level variations. While inBirbhum the range of coverage varies between 88 per cent and 23per cent of the schools, in Malda the range was between 100 percent and 41 per cent (see table 3.2). There was no clear explanationfor this variation in the coverage. Rather, it was observed that theimplementation depended largely on the individual initiatives ofsome local authorities, such as BDO. Again, as we have seen in someof the schools, the programme ended abruptly within a few monthsof its launch. There are various problems afflicting the programme.But, as our study found, there was an equally – if not more –important aspect associated with the programme. It is the wideracceptance of the programme among several sections of thevillagers.


31

Table-3.1.Coverage of Mid-Day Meal scheme in Birbhumand Malda at the Upper Primary level

Total No. No. of No. of % of No. of % of

of School Students schools schools students studentsserving serving having havingMDM MDM MDM MDM

Birbhum(as on May 2009) 501 178503 316 63.1 98911 55.4

Malda(as on July 2009) 421 N.A. 259 61.5 103455 N.A.

West Bengal(as on March 2009)11333 4352132 6116 54.0 1591276 36.6

Source: Office of the District Magistrate, Birbhum; Office of the DistrictMagistrate, Malda; School Education Department, Govt. of West Bengal

Table-3.2. Coverage of Mid-Day Meal Scheme at theUpper Primary level in the visited blocks of

Birbhum and Malda

Districts Blocks No. of Enrolment No. of Per cent No. of Per centschools* schools covered students covered

running coveredMDM

Birbhum BolpurSriniketan 40 13492 9 22.5 927 6.9Rajnagar 13 4070 6 46.1 1185 29.1Nalhati 17 8262 15 88.2 7510 90.9

Malda Kaliachok 32 N.A. 25 78.1 10862 N.A.IIIChachol II 27 N.A. 27 100 9540 N.A.Gazole 42 N.A. 17 40.5 5371 N.A.

Source: Office of the District Magistrate, Birbhum, as on May 2009/ Office of the

District Magistrate, Malda as on June 2009

* The figures of total schools in the blocks of Malda district were collected from

the office of the respective BDOs.


32

WIDER ACCEPTANCE

The major impact of the cooked meal scheme in the upperprimary level was reported to be the precious nutrition supportprovided to the children. As was reported by the teachers, poorchildren, especially girls, majority of whom belonged to the SC, STand Muslim communities, were the greatest beneficiaries.Nevertheless, there were some sections, mainly belonging to upperclasses, who expressed their reservation on the Mid-Day Meal at theupper primary level. Notwithstanding the reservations, the widerpublic in the rural areas seemed to have accepted the programme asa relevant intervention. Presented below is how the different groups– children, parents, teachers, self-help group (SHG) members andothers – have received the programme.

VIEWS OF CHILDREN

“Which side the sun rises?” asked a teacher to a Class V child.“I don’t care, give me the food first”, pat replied the little girl. She

was so hungry that she could not concentrate on the lessons.The story was narrated to us by the teacher himself, who

remembered it as an exceptional case. The literary value of theconversation might have been exceptional, but the content of it wasfound to be common. A section of the students were found to havecome to school without eating anything at home; such cases – nomatter the magnitude – were found in almost all the schools visited.

Almost all the children appeared to be very keen on taking theMid-Day Meal. When asked whether they liked the MDM or not,only a small fraction said that they did not like it. The students ofthe schools where Mid-Day Meal has been stopped or not yet startedwere very much eager to know whether the MDM programme wouldstart soon in their school or not.

The disliking, however, was caused mainly by the monotonousand insipid menu (Khichuri), or due to the unhygienic way in whichthe food was cooked in some of the schools. A few of the Muslimgirls told us that they at times felt shy to sit together with the boysto share the food. Sometimes the quantity of the food also seemedto matter.


33

Lutfa Khatun is a student of Class VII of Jadupur High Schoolin Chachol II Block of Malda. Her father works as a jute thresherin the village, and the wages earned are paltry. The income canhardly sustain the family. Yet, Lutfa does not take the meal servedin the school. “It is so little in quantity that it can have no effectto assuage hunger. The little amount of food served actually

increases the hunger. Therefore, I do not eat the meal.”

VIEWS OF PARENTS

The general response about the impact of the Mid-Day Meal

programme in the schools was found to be positive. A majority of

the parents interviewed welcomed the MDM programme. For them,

“It is a sort of gift of God to the needy”. Not only that, the health

of their children has also reportedly improved. Now, they can pay

much more attention on their agricultural work without having to

worry about preparing food for their children. Those who appeared

indifferent towards the programme formed a small section and

generally belonged to the relatively well-off section of the society.

We were told that many of the children took some food at home (in

the form of rice, chapatti, puffed rice, parched rice etc.) before

coming to the school. But there was a section of children who couldnot be provided with any food before coming to the school. For the

parents of those children the programme came as a special

livelihood support, as it not only provided nutritional support to the

children but also enabled them to save some money from their

household budget. Apart from the general relevance, the programme

was reported to have special benefits for the children attending

schools from distant villages.

In addition to the provision of nutrition for the children, the

programme made some other impacts like reducing the gap of social

distances (caste, religion, gender etc.) as in some cases children of

different identities were reported or seen to have shared the food

together, despite the various social inhibitions present in the society.In some cases, even the children defied the instructions given by

their elders not to eat with the children with lowly background or of

other castes.


34

Most of the parents interviewed supported the cooked MDM

programme highlighting specifically its need in the rural areas. Only

a few wanted this programme to be either replaced by dry food or

stopped. As to why they wanted the programme to stop, the

following reasons were given:

Firstly, a few of the Hindu high caste parents said that they

might lose their caste purity if their children sat and shared

cooked food with children who have a lower social background.

Secondly, the parents who suggested stopping the programme

said that they did not send their children to the school on empty

stomach. They were confident that they could feed their

children with much better quality food than what was served in

the school. They fear that their children may fall sick taking the

‘poor’ quality food at the school.

Sanjay Tudu, father of Sunil Tudu of Class VIII of Hatimari

High School was repenting as the cooked meal served in the

school has suddenly stopped. It not only helped in providing the

required food during the lunch period, but also resulted in

increasing the concentration of the children. When we asked him

whether he had any suggestions to improve the scheme, including

the choice of MDM, he firmly answered,“bhat tai bhalo khabar,

onyo kichu noy.Gram ghorer chhele ar ki khabe? - (Cooked rice is the

best food, nothing else. What else do the village people eat?”)

Also, a majority of the parents were ready to extend voluntary

help in the arrangement of the MDM programme. Most of them

were willing to offer free labour or help by supervising the cooking

and serving of food.

VIEWS OF TEACHERS

Teachers, in general, said that the programme has had a positive

impact, particularly in terms of nutritional support to the lowest

stratum of the population. According to the Headteacher of a

school, “ Many of the students, mostly girls, reported giddiness and

even fainted during the school hour as they had to remain on empty


35

stomach for a long time. Neither did they take any food before

coming to the school nor could they manage to take any food during

the lunch break as they could not afford it. The launching of the

MDM programme has solved this problem to a great extent”.

However, one section of the teachers was found to be explicitly

opposing the programme. Some of them said that, running the

programme in the school distracted the students’ attention from

studying to the cooking and eating of food. They also complained

that the serving of MDM demanded a lot of time, which disturbed

teaching-learning activities in the school. Some teachers were found

to be unwilling to start the Mid-day Meal programme in the school

where it was not yet started or were reluctant to continue it in the

school where it was already in operation. In a particular case, the

Headteacher confessed that they were strictly against starting the

MDM programme in the school. Finally, they had to introduce it

under pressure from the implementing authority, as all the schools in

that block had already started the programme.

The complaint on short lunch break might be relevant in some

schools, but, we have come across some schools with huge


36

enrolment both in Birbhum and Malda, which managed the serving

of food quite successfully within the stipulated time.

Enrolment in Classes V to VIII in the Brahmankhanda BasaparaHigh School was 1203. The average number of children takingthe Mid-Day Meal was reported to be 700. The teacher-in-chargeand the cooks reached the school everyday at around 7.30 a.m.The whole process of cooking got completed before 1 p.m. andthe children finished their food within 35 minutes. The AssistantHeadteacher said in a public meeting arranged by the Pratichi(India) Trust, “I feel happy running the Mid-Day Mealprogramme. I sit with the students in the last bach and eat.” Themanagement system developed in this school can be valuable forothers. In another school visited by the Pratichi Research Tem,Bhagabanpur KBS High School of Malda district, the studentstrength of Class V-VIII was 1627. The average number ofstudents taking the Mid-Day Meal was about 1200 and theprogramme was found to be running unhindered. At the initialstage, lack of basic infrastructure facilities, like kitchen, delayedthe launching of the programme by two months. The schoolmanaging committee and the local panchayat took initiative toconstruct the kitchen shed. There was no major problemreported in running the programme.

If schools with such a huge enrolment and large number of

children taking part in the Mid-Day Meal programme could run it

well, there was no reason why schools with relatively moderate

enrolment could not begin this scheme.

COOKING ARRANGEMENTS AND THE ROLE OF SHG (SELF-HELP GROUP)

The operational aspect of the programme was found to be in the

hands of the women Self-Help Group (SHG) members. Aside from

cooking, they were in charge of procuring the ingredients

(vegetables, spices, etc.) and fuel required for preparing the meal.

Payment of the conversion cost and wages for cooking was made

directly to the groups through cheque. The teacher-in-charge


37

provided them the daily student attendance in the morning and they

cooked the quantity accordingly.

Some variations in terms of the number of groups arranging the

MDM were found:

a) A single group arranging the meal for Classes V-VIII.

b) One group arranging the food for Class V and another for

Classes VI–VIII together.

c) In another case it was found that while one group was in charge

of Class V and Class VI another group prepared food for the

rest.

d) Separate groups arranging meal for each of Classes V-VIII.

The allotment of rice per child for Class V was 100 grams and

for VI-VIII, it was 150 grams. The conversion cost per child (for

fuel, vegetables, spices etc) was Rs 2.50 for Class V and Rs 3 for

Classes VI-VIII. In almost all the schools it was reported that this

conversion cost was found to be too inadequate to make a proper

meal, taking into consideration the overall increase in the prices. The

Standing Committee on Education, 2008-09, has suggested some

measures before the Assembly of West Bengal to solve some of

these problems, e.g. to increase the conversion cost and

remuneration paid to the SHG (recently some enhancement has

been made, but it is still inadequate).

In a particular case, male members of the SHGs volunteered to

carry the bags of rice and water to the top floor of the school,

where temporary arrangement of cooking was made. Also, in many

cases male SHG members were found to help the women groups in

preparing the meals.

PROBLEMS INVOLVED

In spite of such wider acceptance and demand for Mid-Day Meal

in the upper primary schools, some of the policies and

shortcomings related to implementation seem to play a restricting

role as regards the fuller utilisation of the potential of the


38

programme. Some of the major problems found by the study are

mentioned below:

1.Definitional restriction : In the particular context of West

Bengal, the schools are divided into two distinct categories:

most of the primary schools have Classes I to IV, and most of

the high schools have Classes V to X. Again, some of the high

schools have plus 2 classes. During its initial implementation at

the primary level, the Mid-Day Meal faced a problem in catering

to the children of Class V as those classes were attached with

the secondary level schools. Once the programme was launched

in the secondary schools to serve the primary children (Class V)

teachers and others associated with the programme found it

very difficult to manage it as children of non-primary classes

(VI and above) also wanted to share the meal. The same

problem was now seen in the cases of upper primary and

secondary division: since the government guideline was to serve

the children up to Class VIII food could not be served to the

children of higher classes. But many of the students of Classes

IX and X, and even XI and XII reportedly demanded a meal.

“Sometimes they [students of higher classes] wait in the queue,

or sit in the batch when the food is served. And it is not

possible for the SHG members to identify each of them in the

whole lot. Also, if the students get identified, it is impossible to

make them out of the line”, said a headteacher. Parents, SHG

members, teachers and, above all, the students demanded

immediate extension of the programme to the secondary and

higher secondary level.

2. Lower Budget Allocation : A major problem in running the

programme was the lower budget allocation for ingredients, fuel

and wages for the cooks. We were told that the unprecedented

rise in the prices had made it nearly impossible to serve a decent

meal.

The delay in payment of the conversion cost was reported to be

a major constraint in running the programme. According to an

SHG leader, this payment was made after a period of four


39

months, and that too for only two months. In almost all the

cases, the ingredients were bought on credit. In some cases the

SHG members even had to exhaust their own funds in order to

continue the programme. It was found that in some of the

schools the SHG members used to serve the food on sal leaf

plates, but the constraint of fund had forced them to stop doing

this.

The honorarium paid to each SHG group was Rs.600. The

meagreness of the amount was a major complaint raised in all

the schools we visited. In most cases, the number of members

engaged in cooking was five. So at the end of the month, each

member received around Rs.120. This was not only a pittance

but it also violated the government’s norm of minimum wage.

The demand for enhancement of wages was heard from each

and every SHG member and also the teachers. It was reported

that in one of the schools the SHG associated with cooking

Mid-Day Meal stopped working since June 2009 following the

demand for an upward revision of their remuneration.

The wage was not only meagre, there was much delay in making

the payment also (as in the case of the conversion cost).

3.Poor Quality of Food : Lower allocation of fund, irregularity in

supply and similar other causes led to serving of poor quality

food. In most cases there were complaints by almost all the

concerned on the quality of food.

4. Infrastructural shortages : In almost all the schools visited, the

teachers highlighted the constraints such as inadequate cooking

and dining space, insufficient utensils and storage facility and

limited time allocated for serving the food.

Most of the schools visited had no permanent kitchen shed.

Nearly half had no kitchen shed at all. In such schools, a cycle

shed or a dilapidated classroom or a thatched shed is used for

cooking purposes as a stop-gap arrangement. Almost all the

schools where Mid-Day Meal was served did not have any

dining space and the food was served either in the veranda or

in an abandoned classroom. Also, in many cases, the schools


40

lacked utensils and store-room facilities for cooking food

materials and storing the cooked food.

5.Lack of scope for community involvement and social audit : Inreality, there was no community involvement in running the

Mid-Day Meal programme in the upper primary schools. In

some cases, it was the unwillingness of the teacher and the

reluctance of the implementing authority that acted as a

hindrance in involving the communities.

Apart from this, there were some other practical problems also.

The upper primary schools we visited covered a wider area that

made many children to come from distant villages. This made it

difficult for their parents to get associated with the day-to-day

functioning of the schools. Nevertheless, involvement of the

communities on a periodic basis could be a possibility.

SUMMING UP

The urgency and relevance of serving the cooked Mid-Day Meal

is beyond question. But its inadequate coverage in the upper primary

schools is a matter of serious concern, which seems to be caused by

the lack of will at different levels. It is hard to overlook the

operational problems in carrying out the programme in the upper

primary schools, but the political commitment or the lack thereof

cannot be ignored while studying the issue. A little enhancement in

fund allocation can make a major difference in the quality of meal.

There is no reason why this cannot be done or the fund cannot be

supplied in time or the payment to the cooks cannot be enhanced.

There is a serious need for re-organising the allocation,

infrastructure facilities and regularising the fund.

Apart from the policy issues, it is important to take note of some

of the ground realities. Our experiences of the primary schools

show that organising the local people and making them actively

involved can really be a stimulating factor in the introduction and

successful continuation of the Mid-Day Meal programme. Also, the

management system developed by some of the upper primary


41

schools could be very helpful in showing how to tackle the

operational problems.

Diagnosing the problems are very important. Equally important,

if not more, is to recognise the positive experiences and the possible

difference they can make.


42

4. A CONCLUDING REMARK

This study can well be concluded with the words of Dreze and

Goel: “The experience so far clearly shows that mid-day meals have

much to contribute to the well-being and future of Indian children.

As things stand, the Mid-Day Meal programme has many flaws, but

the way to go is forward and not backward.”25 The main point is

that the possibilities of this programme far outweigh the problems

involved in its operation. On the one hand, it has given a

tremendous impetus to the parental aspiration of acquiring

education by their children. On the other hand, it has offered the

opportunity of ending classroom hunger and eventually under-

nutrition among the children.

That the programme has had a strong impact on the parents of

the primary school children came up in our earlier studies. The

present study found its expansion among the parents – both in

urban and rural areas. The limited implementation of the scheme in

the urban primary schools and the urban upper primary schools has

helped in reducing classroom hunger to some extent. And this

achievement calls for further expansion of the programme to cover

all children, not only up to the primary level but also up to the

secondary level.

The problems involved in its implementation were found to have

much similarity with the problems faced at the primary level as were

reported in our earlier studies26 . They included, (a) poor quality of

meal, that resulted out of lower allocation and some other

operational problems; (b) lower remuneration to the self-help groups

involved in cooking, (c) delay in making the funds available, (d) lack

of infrastructure, such as kitchen shed and dining space, (e) lesser

scope of public participation, and so on. Some public attention on

43

these problems has already been attracted27 , but a lot more needs to

be done.

It requires a firm political conviction in order to (a) universalise

the programme and (b) remove the constraints still affecting its

implementation.


44

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. Guidelines of the National Programme of Nutritional Support to PrimaryEducation, launched in August, 1995; Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment, Department of School Education and Literacy,Government of India, Mid-Day Meal Scheme, New Delhi.

2. M S Swaminathan Research Foundation & World Food Programme(2008): Report on the State of Food Insecurity in Rural India, Chennai.

3. Right to Food Campaign (2005): Supreme Court Orders on the Right toFood : A Tool for Action, New Delhi.

4. Rana K (2004); ‘‘The Possibilities of Mid-day Meal Programme inWest Bengal’’, paper presented at the workshop on West Bengal :Challenges and Choices, organised by the Centre for Studies in SocialSciences, Calcutta on 27-28 July; Rana K (2007); Akhsharer KhamataKhamatar Akhshar, CAMP, Kolkata.

5. Minutes of the Meeting of the Programme Approval Board for Mid-Day MealScheme on March 26, 2009; Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment, Department of School Education and Literacy,Government of India, Mid-Day Meal Division, New Delhi.

6. Pratichi Research Team (2004): Pratichi Sikhsha Pratibedan, Dey’sPublishing, Kolkata.

7. See, Pratichi Research Team (2005): The Impact of Mid-Day MealProgramme in West Bengal, www.righttofoodindia.org; Rana K (2004),“The Possibilities of Mid-day Meal Programme in West Bengal” paperpresented at the workshop on West Bengal: Challenges and Choices,organized by the Centre for Social Sciences, Calcutta, on 27 and 28July 2004; Pratichi Research Team (2007): Mid-Day Meal and Beyond:Primary Education in West Bengal (mimeo) and citations therein for someother studies that corroborate our findings. Various public workshopsorganised by the Trust on the issue of Mid-Day Meal have alsostrengthened the findings.

8. Minutes of the Meeting of the Programme Approval Board for Mid-Day MealScheme on March 26, 2009; Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment, Department of School Education and Literacy,Government of India, Mid-Day Meal Division, New Delhi

45

9. No. F. 1(1)/2007/Desk (MDM): Ministry of Human Resource Deve-lopment, Department of School Education and Literacy, Governmentof India, Mid-Day Meal Division, New Delhi.

10.Minutes of the Meeting of the Programme Approval Board for Mid-Day MealScheme on March 26, 2009; Ministry of Human Resource Development,Department of School Education and Literacy, Government of India,Mid-Day Meal Division, New Delhi.

11.Annual Work Plan and Budget 2009-10 (National); Ministry of HumanResource Development, Department of School Education andLiteracy, Government of India, Mid-Day Meal Division, New Delhi.

12. Ibid.13. Pratichi Research Team (2009) : The Pratichi Education Report II :

Primary Education in West Bengsl : Changes and Challenges, Pratichi Trust,Delhi and Kolkata.

14. The Pratichi Trust has been organising since 2002 large publicworkshops involving parents, teachers and others in order to initiatedebates and discussions on the issues of primary education, publichealth and gender equality.

15. With the partnership of All Bengal Primary Teachers’ Association(ABPTA), we have been engaged in building a public initiative inprimary education in Kolkata.

16. Census of India 2001.17. Bureau of Applied Economics & Statistics (2006): District Statistical

Handbook Kolkata 2006, Government of West Bengal, Kolkata.18. Census of India 2001.19. Ibid.20. See, Pratichi Research Team (2006): Public Private Interface in the Primary

Schooling System: A Study in West Bengal; Pratichi (India) Trust, Delhiand Santiniketan.

21 Guidelines of Revised National Programme of Nutritional Support to PrimaryEducation, 2004; Ministry of Human Resource Development,Department of School Education and Literacy, Government of India,Mid-Day Meal Division, New Delhi.

22 The nutritional impact of dry snacks had also been questioned and itwas seen that this impact was likely to be far lower compared to acooked meal.See, Baru et al (2008 ): “Full Meal or Package Deal?” inEconomic and Political Weekly, Vol XLIII No 24, June 14-20, 2008.

23. Minutes of the Meeting of the Programme Approval Board for Mid-Day MealScheme on March 26, 2009; Ministry of Human Resource Development,Department of School Education and Literacy, Govt. of India, Mid-day Meal Division, New Delhi.


46

24. Annual Work Plan and Budget 2009-10 (National); Ministry of HumanResource Development, Department of School Education andLiteracy, Government of India, Mid-Day Meal Division, New Delhi.

25. Dreze Jean and Aparajita Goel (2003): ‘Future of Mid-Day Meals’ inEconomic and Political Weekly, Vol XXXVIII No 44, November 1-7,2003.

26. Pratichi Trust (2005): The Impact of Mid-Day Meal Programme in WestBengal, www.righttofoodindia.org; Rana K (2004), “The Possibilities ofMid-day Meal Programme in West Bengal” paper presented at theworkshop on West Bengal: Challenges and Choices, organized by theCentre for Social Sciences, Calcutta, on 27 and 28 July 2004; PratichiTrust (2007): Mid-Day Meal and Beyond: Primary Education in West Bengal(mimeo); Pratichi Research Team (2009): The Pratichi Education ReportII: Primary Education in West Bengal – Changes and Challenges, with anIntroduction by Amartya Sen, Pratichi Trust, Delhi and Kolkata.

27. Report of the Standing Committee on Education, placed before theWest Bengal Assembly on July 14, 2009; Government of West Bengal,Kolkata.


47

PERSONS OTHER THAN THE PARENTS, CHILDREN AND

SHG MEMBERS MET

N.N. Burman, Project Director (MDM), School EducationDepartment, Govt. of West Bengal

Kartick Manna, Chairman, KPSC

Kalyani Mitra, MIC-Education, KMC

Bishnupada Ghosh, Councillor, Ward No.2, KMC

Namita Das, Councillor, Ward No.3, KMC

Biren Chakraborty, Councillor, Ward No.57, KMC

Shyamadas Roy, Councillor, Ward No.126, KMC

Ratna Roy Majumder, Councillor, Ward No.128, KMC

Anjula Roy, Head Teacher, Rishi Bankim Vidyapith, Kolkata

Sitaram Murai, Assistant Teacher, Sree Neheru Vidyapith, Kolkata

Rathindranath Bhattacharya, Headteacher, Belgachia Swamiji SikshaNiketan GSFP, Kolkata

Alpana Bera, Head Teacher, Belgachia Monohar Academy, Kolkata

Lakshmi Roy, Head Teacher, Bastuhara Vidyapith, Kolkata

Rabindra Chandra Das, Teacher-in-Charge, Jayasree Vidyaniketan,Kolkata

Shukla Roy, Head Teacher, Bangamoni Vidyapith, Kolkata

Moonmoon Mukherjee, Assistant Teacher, Sobhasona Smriti G.S,Kolkata

Md. Shahab Afsar, Teacher-in-Charge, KMCP School (UDB),Kolkata

48

Akhil Bhattacharya, Head Teacher, KMCP School, Kolkata

Kamaksha Prasad Das, Teacher-in-charge, Laujore High School,Birbhum

Ashimesh Ghosh, Mukhya Somprosarok,Bandi Madhyamik SikshaKendra, Birbhum

Sitaram Mondal, Head Teacher, Panchshowa Rabindra Vidyapith,Birbhum

Aditi Majumdar, Head Teacher, Binuria Sumitra Balika Vidyalaya,Birbhum

Bamapada Das, Head Teacher, Bhadrapur Maharaja NandakumarHigh School, Birbhum

Prasanta Kumar Ghosh, Head Teacher, Hatimari High School,Malda

Ramala Here, Assistant Teacher, Eklakhi Mission Girls High School,Malda

Angshuman Jha, Head Teacher, Baishnabnagar High School, Malda

Md. Ahosanul Islam, Head Teacher, Bhagobanpur KBS HighSchool, Malda

Gani Khan, Assistant Teacher, Jodupur High School, Malda

Azharul Islam, Assistant Teacher, Jalalpur HRA High School, Malda

Tapas Kumar Mondal, B.D.O. Nalhati II, Birbhum

Debanshu Ganguly, B.D.O. Rajnagar, Birbhum

Indradeb Bhattacharya, B.D.O. Chachol II, Malda

S. Santra, B.D.O. Gazole, Malda

Gopal Chandra Das, B.D.O. Kaliachok III, Malda


49

Documents

The Pratichi · Kolkata District Primary School Council Sarva Siksha Mission, Birbhum Authorities of the Study Districs All Our Respondents 5. ... (Murshidabad, Birbhum, Bankura,