RESEARCH: MID-DAY MEALS

[Introduction] [Survey Questionnaires] [Survey Guidelines] [Findings] Findings

The findings reported below are taken from an article by Jean Drèze and Aparajita Goyal which is available here. A preliminary report by Bhanupriya Rao on the Kumbalgarh tehsil, Rajasthan, is available here.

The survey at a glance

• In 76 of the 81 sample schools, investigators found that mid-day meals were being served regularly.
• Infrastructural facilities (cooking shed, water supply, etc.) vary widely, and are often inadequate.

School enrolment goes up

• Class I enrolment increased by 15% in the three States combined, between the 2001-02 and 2002-03 academic years.
• Female enrolment in Rajasthan increased by 29% during this period.

End of classroom hunger

• Since children often come to school without any breakfast, they often find it difficult to concentrate on an empty stomach. Mid-day meals seem to have resolved this problem.
• Mid-day meals have also helped to avert an intensification of child undernutrition in many drought-affected areas.

Overcoming caste barriers

• The experience of sharing a meal together may help overcome caste barriers. The survey found little evidence of open discrimination; most lower-caste parents did not feel that their children had been subject to discrimination.
• However, there has been upper-caste resistance to the appointment of Dalit cooks.

The way forward

• Financial allocations need to be raised: Rajasthan spends only Rs. 0.50 per child per day on the scheme at present.
• Mid-day meal infrastructure needs to be improved.
• The monitoring system needs to be overhauled.
• Caste issues need to be addressed.
• Lunch menus need to be varied and made more nutritious.
• Mid-day meal schemes could be linked to broader health initiatives.
• States such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh must be persuaded to implement mid-day meal schemes as soon as possible.