Mid-day Meals: Introduction

Introduction| Supreme Court Orders| Commissioners' Interventions| Events| Mid-day Meal Guidelines| Field Surveys| Articles| Campaign Materials| Newsfeeds

Introduction

On 28 November 2001, the Supreme Court directed state governments to introduce cooked mid-day meals in all government and government-assisted primary schools within six months (see legal action section for further details). This landmark order was one of the first achievements of the right to food campaign. The order was followed by organised public pressure for the introduction of cooked mid-day meals in primary schools, e.g. in the form of a country-wide "day of action on mid-day meals" in April 2002.

In response to this pressure, and to the court orders, all state governments have initiated mid-day meal programmes. Today, with more than 100 million children covered, India’s mid-day meal programme is by far the largest nutrition programme in the world.

The quality of mid-day meals, however, varies a great deal between different states. Some states, notably in southern India, have reasonably good mid-day meal programmes. Others initially introduced ramshackle mid-day meals on a shoestring budget, mainly to appease the Supreme Court. The campaign focuses not only on the implementation of Supreme Court orders but also on quality issues.

Commissioners' Interventions

The Supreme Court has designated Dr. N.C. Saxena as Commissioner to monitor the implementation of orders relating to the right to food, with the assistance of Harsh Mander ("special commissioner"). They are empowered to investigate violations of these orders, and expected to report to the Court on the extent of compliance. Some relevant extracts from recent reports and correspondence are given below.

Last updated: 9 May 2008