Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Mumbai Schools: Perspectives and Realities

Reetika Khera in her article, ‘Mid day meals in primary schools’ mentioned that India has poor performances in child well being. Half the children are undernourished. Although the indicators have been improved in education, but the other indicators of achieving universal education hasn’t been done. To reach that, in 1995, Mid day meal scheme was launched to universalise the education. By implementing this, children get motivated to attend schools and thus, education can be attained.

I visited a school in Mankhurd, Bombay Municipal Corporation, Mumbai.

The school is Deonar colony, Municipal English school number 02 in Mankhurd, Mumbai. The timings of the meal of the school are generally between 9am to 10am. The nutrition of the school mostly involves Dal and Rice and sometimes vegetables. The meal includes sweets and biscuits once a week too. The government school has 31 staff members including the Headmaster of the school.

The teacher, Kuldeep Pillewad is one of the teachers of the school and guides children of grade 3.

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He believes that the meals are important for a child’s learning and the nutrition provided gives them energy and helps them stay active in class. Commenting over the relationship with the schools, he said that the overall relationship with the government is good and if there is any problem with the scheme, the school connects directly with the contractor and the authorised person and it’s recorded and changes are implemented. He said that the providers of the meals are different for different timings of the school.

Reflecting over the challenges faced in the scheme, he said that mid day meals were implemented with the idea of attracting students and in that way improving their health and both education since they’ll attend schools and eat sufficiently. But many parents are still not aware of the importance of right amount of nutrition to their children.

The head teacher said, “So far, the process of implementation of the mid day meals has been running smoothly”. The contractor of Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) sends the meals via a traveller and it’s collected by either me or the teachers. Any of the teacher tastes the food and then it is served to the students. All the details are recorded by us about the meals.

One of the records of the meals noted during August The head teacher said that, “The students are counted in the morning after the roll call. There are 600 students approximately. The tiffin boxes are also provided by the departments. “As a head teacher and supervisor of the school, I have to go for meetings with the contractors and authorities to check the processes and also the implementation of it. Most of the meetings held are with the Bombay Municipal Corporation school. “

Reflecting on the challenges faced as per the Head teacher, he said that there are no challenges as such but there is probably a variety needed in food. Everyday the kids only cannot eat the same Dal. Although different types of Dals are served, but even there needs to be a change so that the children like the food and they stay excited about receiving the meals.

“The food served to us is nutritious and even tasty. It is also clean and healthy. We were initially served poha but now there have been changes in it. After having a meal in the school, we enjoy school classes and stay active and motivated. Yes, we are aware of the meals that we’re served and what lies the purpose in it. MDMS was initiated to improve our health and attendance in schools and I think as a student, MDMS really attracts me and I come to school since I also enjoy having one time meal with my friends.

“The food is properly boiled and easy to digest. There is a variety for me here since my mother works. I sometimes get the same food at home, but here it is different and I enjoy the food. One of the negative factors is that sometimes there are stones on the food served and it is extra salty and sour. When we feel that the food is not good, we inform the other students and collectively don’t eat. We inform the teachers and then it is reported to the contractor.

“Although I have food here from school, I still carry my tiffin since my mother thinks I might not like it here. I eat both the foods, viz. My tiffin and the meal by school. One of the negative factors of the scheme is that the toilets are not clean and therefore there are flies and mosquitoes and they affect our meals. Although the cleanliness is a big concern and a completely different subject here, but it does affect our food and eating.

“My child always keeps praising school food. As a parent, I feel relaxed that he’s being served food at once in school. This reduces my worries about his food and one meal. But sometimes i get worried if he has eaten or not. Mid day meal scheme is a good initiative especially for parents who worry about their children’s food and also don’t believe in educating them. Meal and education at the same for free is a bonus to parents like us who are poor.

As mentioned above, the students present in school are recorded and approximately food for 600 students is served to the school. It is then collected by the head teacher or any of the teachers. The food is tasted by the teachers and then served to the students. The head teacher attends meetings with the Bombay Municipal Corporation. Also, the school seeks feedbacks from the students frequently to keep records of the scheme. As observed, almost every actor is aware of the idea behind the scheme. From the head teacher till the students, the scheme is clear to them and they know what challenges they’re facing and how they can be overcome.