According to a recent report by the Times of India, students from Telangana enrolled in the Mid-day meal program, have expressed concerns regarding the sub-standard quality of food being served in their schools [1]. This program was originally launched on August 15, 1955, under the leadership of Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and has now been rebranded as the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Yojana. The program is aimed at providing quality food and nutrition to school going children across the nation from government primary and upper primary schools to government aided anganwadis.
The 2024 Union budget substantially funded the scheme so as to improve the quality of meals and infrastructure for meal preparation in schools. Under the program, at least one-third of the total daily calories and half of the daily protein requirement is promised to be provided to school children. A strong emphasis has been put on including fortified rice, wheat, and oil to meals in recent years to better tackle malnutrition and to ensure a balanced diet reaches each and every child.
Recent reports, however, highlight several issues concerning the quality of food served under the Scheme.
In Maharashtra, Shiv Sena MLA Santosh Bangar, physically confronted an employee at a mid-day meal kitchen in the Hingoli district and accused the kitchen staff of using low-quality materials calling for government action against such malpractices [2].
In Uttar Pradesh, there have been reports of students being served rice with salt, raising concerns about nutritional inadequacy [3].
Similar trends have surfaced in Telangana. Syeda Sania, an intermediate student at Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) in Vikarabad, expressed her dissatisfaction with the food saying,
The local kitchens have been replaced with centralized ones due to monetary issues with government funding
Syeda Sania, Student, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV)
Only 60 out of 300 students eat the food provided by centralized kitchens.
added, Chava Ravi, United Teachers Federation
The central govt's report from the programme approval board (PAB) meeting for PM POSHAN in Telangana revealed that over 40% of the students in several districts are opting out of mid-day meals.
The state's school education department now plans to release a report addressing the central government's report.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Dr. Chhavi Garg/MSM)
