PARLIAMENT LIBRARY AND REFERENCE, RESEARCH, DOCUMENTATION
AND INFORMATION SERVICE (LARRDIS)
MEMBERS REFERENCE SERVICE
REFERENCE NOTE . No. 20 / RN/ Ref./ August/ 2013
For the use of Members of Parliament Not for Publication
Mid-Day Meal Scheme
.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The reference material is for personal use of the Members in the discharge of their Parliamentary duties, and is not for publication. This Service is not to be quoted as the source of the information as it is based on the sources indicated at the end/in the text. This Service does not accept any responsibility for the accuracy or veracity of the information or views contained in the note/collection. Mid-Day Meal Scheme
1. Introduction
The concept of mid-day meal scheme is not new in India as its roots can be traced back to pre independence era when British administration initiated a Mid Day Meal Programme for disadvantage children in Madras Municipal Corporation in 1925. Like this many such programmes were initiated in different states. In 1953, Government of Uttar Pradesh started another such scheme. Tamil Nadu became the first state in India to introduce a noon meal programme in primary schools. In 1984 this scheme was introduced in Gujarat. From time to time the meal scheme was taken up by different states and later on it was taken up as a national scheme 1 .
Government of India launched National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (Commonly known as Mid-Day Meal Scheme) on August 15, 1995 to provide mid-day meal to the children studying at primary stage 2 . In 2002, the Supreme Court directed the Government to provide cooked Mid-Day Meals (as apposed to providing dry rations) in all Government and Government aided primary schools 3 . It was revised in September 2004 and in September 2006 4 .
2. Objectives of Mid-Day Meal Scheme
The objectives of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme is to address two of the pressing problems for majority of children in India, viz. hunger and education by: (i) Improving the nutritional status of children in classes I VIII in Government, Local Body and Government aided schools, and Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) and Alternative and Innovative Education (AIE) centers, National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Schools and Madarasa and Maqtabs supported under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
1 www.mapsofindia.com 2 India. Rajya Sabha, Department Related Parliament Standing Committee on Human Resources Development, 191st Report on Implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, and Mid-Day Meal. Rajya Sabha Secretariat, 2007, p. iii 3 www.prsindia.org 4 op.cit, Department Related Parliament Standing Committee on HRD 191 st Report, p. iii