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The Indian government has increased its allocation of funds to states and union territories for the school midday meals scheme. The increased outlay of 50 paise per child per school day is meant to cover the cost of cooking the meals
On June 16, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved an increase of Rs 1.50 per child from the existing Re 1, under the National Programme on School Midday Meals Scheme. All states, except the northeastern states of Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Nagaland and Manipur will have to contribute 50 paise to meet the overall cooking cost of Rs 2. In the northeast, the Centre's contribution will be Rs 1.80 and the states will chip in with 20 paise.
The Centre's enhanced assistance is subject to the mandatory contribution from the states and the provision of improved nutritional standards. The existing level of central assistance towards cooking costs will be maintained until the states contribute their respective shares.
In order to improve implementation of the meals scheme, the CCEA also approved the provision of assistance to states towards the construction of kitchen-cum-stores in around 600,000 primary schools. The financial assistance will be approximately Rs 60,000 per unit, where convergence with other programmes is not feasible. But, the committee stressed, states must continue to attempt constructing kitchens through collaborations. Assistance for cooking/kitchen devices, at Rs 5,000 per school, was also approved.
The midday meals scheme is part of the government's bid to universalise elementary education by boosting enrolment, attendance and retention, besides improving the nutritional status of around 120 million children at the primary school level.
Applicable in 900,000 primary schools across the country, the budgetary outlay for this scheme in the financial year 2006-07 is Rs 4,300 crore, making this the largest school feeding programme in the world.
In November 2004, the Supreme Court of India directed all states and union territories to provide midday meals to primary school students by January 2005. Since then, the Centre has been funding the scheme that has also been instrumental in employment-generation, particularly for women belonging to disadvantaged sections, and self-help groups.
Source: The Hindu, June 17, 2006
www.pib.nic.in, June 16, 2006
The Indian Express, June 16, 2006
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