The Indian Express | 1 week ago | 18-03-2023 | 12:45 pm
FROM THE state that pioneered the mid-day meal scheme, comes some astounding good news regarding the effects of introducing free breakfast in schools. A recent assessment study by the School Education Department shows that in all but six of the 1,545 government primary schools where the scheme was introduced in September last year, attendance has seen an increase.The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme covers 1.5 lakh students currently, with the state declaring that it will extend it to all government primary schools, benefiting 17 lakh students in total, by June this year.For the M K Stalin government, which has projected its “Dravidian model” as superior to the Centre’s, this is a great endorsement. Particularly as a proposal in the New Education Policy of the Narendra Modi government to introduce breakfast besides mid-day meals in schools, remained a non-starter after the Ministry of Finance baulked at the estimated cost of around Rs 4,000 crore.The Tamil Nadu government’s assessment study shows that in 1,086 schools of the 1,545 schools covered by the breakfast scheme, attendance was up 20%. In 22 schools, the rise was more than 40%. Across all districts, there was an increase in attendance, while in the districts of Tirupathur, Perambalur, Ariyalur and Tiruvarur, all schools where the scheme was rolled out showed the phenomenon.The DMK-led government mooted the plan based on its finding that many children who come to government schools do so without any food in the morning, either due to strained circumstances, or working parents who did not find the time to cook, or the long distance they had to cover to reach school on time.Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan told The Indian Express that the gains from the scheme currently surpass those from mid-day meal, and that they too were taken by surprise by the findings. “The study shows that the breakfast scheme is proving to be more important than lunch. Though these schemes focus on improving nutrition, overall development and long-term outcomes, the government did not expect such a sudden improvement in attendance records,” he said, adding that 300-400 schools had seen more than a 10 per cent increase in attendance, while in some schools, this was as high as 200%.Crucial learnings from the mid-day meal scheme, now in place in the state for about seven decades, were applied, including the fact that two-thirds of its cost went towards non-food expenses and that quality control remained a challenge.So the breakfast scheme is run using common kitchens, or what are popularly known as cloud kitchens in urban areas, with automated machines doing the cooking, with no human interface. The meals are then dispatched on trucks to schools.In rural areas, they are run with the help of Self-help Groups (SHGs) under local bodies. Members of the SHGs are parents of children who themselves buy the ingredients and prepare the food.The amount assigned is Rs 12.75 per student currently, working out to Rs 33.56 crore in all. Of the 1,545 schools, 417 are located in cities, 163 in towns, 728 in rural and 237 in remote, hilly regions. The menu changes on a daily basis and includes items such as upma, khichdi, pongal, rava kesari, semiya kesari.When the 1956 Congress government of K Kamaraj first introduced the noon meal scheme in government schools, children were served “baby rotis”. The subsequent DMK and AIADMK governments expanded the funding and menu. In 1989, the M Karunanidhi-led DMK government added an egg a week, increased it to three in 2007 and five by 2010 (the option for non-egg eaters was banana). The AIADMK government led by Jayalalithaa introduced rice varieties to the menu.Officials point out how the mid-day meal initially did not have takers either. J Jeyaranjan, Vice-Chairman, Tamil Nadu Planning Board, says among them was Manmohan Singh, who later as Prime Minister would roll out widely appreciated welfare programmes like the MNREGA.A Planning Commissioner member at the time, Singh questioned the then M G Ramachandran’s plans to expand the noon meal programme. “He asked MGR if he planned to run schools or eateries, inviting instant objection by MGR,” recalls Jeyaranjan.The success of the breakfast scheme is also a good counterpoint for the DMK against the BJP campaign accusing Opposition governments of freebies, or revdis as Modi first dubbed them. While Tamil Nadu is ahead of most states in its politicians offering doles in the run-up to elections, the breakfast meal bolsters the Opposition’s argument that there is only a fine distinction between freebies and welfare.
Share:
