What is the Purpose and Problems of Implementation of Mid Day Meal Scheme 

Back to: Contemporary India and Education – Unit 4

On 15th August 1995, the Mid Day Meal Scheme was started in India under the name of ‘National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE)’. In October 2007, NP-NSPE was renamed as ‘National Programme of Mid Day Meal in Schools’. These days, it is popularly referred to as the Mid-Day Meal Scheme. The Vice President of India has recently proposed the inclusion of milk in mid-day meals for children as well. The Mid-Day Meal Scheme was renamed as ‘PM POSHAN’ or Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman in September 2021.

Purpose of Mid Day Meal Scheme

The main purpose of Mid Day Meal Scheme is as follows:

Satisfy the Students’ Hunger

One of the main aims of the mid-day meal scheme is that learners get free lunch and help them avoid hunger or starvation.

Increase School Enrolment

Due to the provision of mid-day meals, parents may desire to send their children to school which can increase the enrolment rate of the students.

Increase School Retention

Enrolling is important but retaining the students to keep coming to school is more important and mid-day meals can motivate the learners to continue schooling.

Avoid Classroom Hunger

While studying in the classroom, children can be prone to hunger. Without proper and adequate food, they will not have the energy to concentrate and therefore, midday means can help avoid classroom hunger.

Help Students Concentrate

Because the classroom hunger of students will be eliminated by mid-day meals, students will be able to focus and concentrate on learning more effectively.

Implementation of Mid Day Meal Scheme

The main components involved in the implementation of MDM are as follows:

1. The raw food material supplied by international agencies consists of corn soya meal (CSM), soya, wheat soya blend, SFB & salad oil.

2. “Upma” or “Khichdi” are cooked using raw ingredients or some other forms. They are also used in ready-to-eat foods along with flavoring agents & condiments. Milk powder can also be used in some places as part of the supplies.

3. The meal constitutes an estimated 450-500 kcal & 20-30 gm protein per child per day. This rate is expected to meet one-third of the energy & half of the protein’s RDIs.

The Problem of Mid Day Meal Scheme

The main problems of the mid-day meal scheme are as follows:

The disadvantages of Mid Day Meal Scheme are as follows:

Delayed Payments

Cooks who prepare the mid-day meal do not receive timely payments which may affect their productivity.

Poor Quality of Food

Large quantities of food have to be prepared and given to the students due to which there are huge chances of the food to have worms in it or lack quality.

Wastage of Food

Due to the lack of food quality, many students may not eat the food and throw it away which leads to wastage of food.

Lack of Nutritious Food

The high quality of food that needs to be prepared also leads to a lack of nutrition in the food as the food provided may be of cheap quality.

Embezzlement of Money

Fake enrolments are on a rise due to the provision of the mid-day meal scheme which poses a financial problem.

These are the various problems of the mid-day meal scheme but despite these challenges, the scheme was necessary to ensure that students feel motivated to enroll in schools and retain their enrolment.