Mid day meal scheme

The Mid Day Meal Scheme was launched in India on August 15, 1995, as part of the ‘National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE).’ In October 2007, the NP-NSPE was renamed the ‘National Programme of Mid-Day Meal in Schools,’ also known as the Mid-Day Meal Scheme. Recently, India’s Vice President advocated including milk in children’s mid-day meals. Mid-day Meal Scheme: All children enrolling in government schools, government-aided schools, local body schools, special training centres (STC), madrasas, and maktabs supported by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan receive one meal (SSA). The Goal of the Mid-day Meal Scheme: The Mid-Day meals scheme’s primary goals are as follows: • Increase the enrollment of students from underprivileged backgrounds in schools. • Increasing enrollment leads to higher school attendance. • To keep children in grades 1-8 enrolled. • To give nutritional help to elementary school children in drought-affected communities. • The government is also considering establishing nutrition gardens on school grounds, including student participation. • Cooking competitions based on local ingredients could also be staged as part of the initiative to promote ethnic food and unique menus. • The revised system will focus on monitoring schoolchildren’s nutritional status in addition to providing healthful meals. • Special supplies for nutritious goods would be made in districts with a high prevalence of anemia • A nutritional expert will be assigned to ...

Image Source: Pixabay National Nutrition Week is celebrated in India every year between 1st and 7th September by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Ministry for Women and Child Development. Since 1982, this dedicated week has been conducted to emphasize the importance of the right nutrition for the human body. This National Nutrition Week, let’s have a look at one of the key programmes of the government to increase nutrition levels among children in schools, the Mid Day Meal Scheme. The benefits of this scheme are two-pronged. It not only helps raise nutritional levels amongst children but also significantly contributes to the learning development of a child. Studies have shown that hunger and malnutrition can be detrimental to a child’s learning abilities, thus affecting their education and ultimately having a negative impact on their future. Therefore, these Mid Day Meal Schemes go a long way in contributing to a holistic development of children. Let’s have a look at some of the frequently asked questions about this scheme. What is the Mid Day Meal Scheme? Mid May Meal Scheme is a scheme of the central government that provides free nutritious meals to children of certain age groups attending schools. While this scheme first Is this scheme regulated by law or just an optional programme offered by some schools or governments? The Mid Day Meal Scheme is regulated by the Who is eligible under this scheme? Children between the ages of 6 and 14 years studying in Class I to VI...

Hunger has been prevalent in our country for centuries now. Even today, 14% of our population is undernourished. Estimates suggest, at the current rate, it will take between 23 years to 50 years to completely eradicate hunger from the face of our country. The only way to reduce the consequences of this monumental challenge is by safeguarding and promoting access to nutritious, safe, and affordable diets meals to the vulnerable populations of our country. As one of the most prominent Indian NGOs, Annamrita focuses on providing nutritious and high-quality food relief to underprivileged communities. On 25th March, 2020, when the nation came to a standstill to contain the spread of a pandemic, lakhs of people lost access to income, resources, and daily meals. At this point, the Annamrita Foundation decided to leverage its kitchens across the nation to do more than just serve mid-day meals. We began delivering healthy and hygienic COVID relief meals to those stranded in the lockdown. More than two years later, we are delivering over 3,00,000 COVID relief meals across 14 cities each day. With a kitchen team that works on two shifts to prepare COVID relief meals and numerous organizations to deliver them to those in need, Annamrita Foundation is working tirelessly to alleviate hunger among various communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the notable acts of bravery and determination portrayed during the pandemic was by the healthcare sector of our country. Right from day ...

What is Mid-Day Meal? Mid-day meal (MDM) is a wholesome freshly-cooked lunch served to children in government and government-aided schools in India. On 28 November 2001, the Supreme Court of India passed a mandate stating, "We direct the State Governments/Union Territories to implement the Mid Day Meal Scheme by providing every child in every Government and Government assisted Primary School with a prepared midday meal." Mid-Day Meal Scheme aims to: • avoid classroom hunger • increase school enrolment • increase school attendance • improve socialisation among castes • address malnutrition • empower women through employment Implementation of the Midday Meal Scheme: The Akshaya Patra Foundation, which was successfully implementing its own school lunch programme in Karnataka since 2000, was called in to give testimonies for verifying the efficacy of the scheme; following which the mandate to implement Mid Day Meal Scheme was passed. In order to successfully carry out this mandate, each State Government started its own Mid-Day Meal Programme with Akshara Dasoha being initiated by the Government of Karnataka. One of the major challenges faced by the Government was the successful implementation of the scheme. As per the NP-NSPE, 2006 Guidelines (Midday Meal Scheme Guidelines), wherever possible, the Government would mobilise community support and promote public-private partnership for the programme. Not-for-profits, such as Akshaya Patra, are therefore encouraged to set up opera...