The Gujarat government has increased the cooking costs for the Mid-Day Meal programme by 0.58 paisa per student, according to the official notification issued dated April 18, 2023. Mid-Day Meal programme runs under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Yojana.
Soon after the government's announcement, controversy sparked and social activists dubbed it a joke on underprivileged kids. The Pradhan Mantri Pokhan Yojana's Mid-Day Meal scheme feeds approx 43 to 45 lakh kids from government, grantable and upper primary schools. The government's goal in conducting this scheme is to tackle the problem of food for school-age children in rural impoverished and backward areas, as well as to encourage education.
After many requests...
However, the government gives not much money to schools in Gujarat for mid-day meals and various local organisations have repeatedly complained to the government about this; finally, the government accepted their demand and increased material cost (cooking costs) which also include the state government's share of providing additional oil. It has been raised by 0.58 paise per day for students in Classes I through V and 0.30 paisa per day for students in Classes VI through VIII.
In Gujarat, the government used to spend 5.50 rupees on students in Classes I to V, but from now, it will spend 6.88 rupees on them and 7.72 rupees on those in Classes VI-VIII, after an increase of 0.30 paisa it will spend 8.02 rupees.
Activists from social organisations are dismissing the government's declaration as a joke with the poor people saying, "Gujarat government spends between Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,500 per plate during major government celebrations. Importantly, the number of malnourished children in Gujarat is rising daily, as per government data. In this instance, the government made fun of children by raising the cost of a mid-day meal for children by 0.58 paise," said economist and activist Hemant Shah.
"Forget about the meal; no one can even have breakfast on this budget. More than 40% are malnourished between five to seven and these children are going to schools, by underfunding children's meals, the government is malnourished an entire generation," said economist Shah.
What about rural areas?
Santosh Rathore, an activist, has been making presentations to the government for a long time in order to get sufficient funding for the Mid-Day Meal School, he claims, "Surprisingly, in rural areas government has also increased the cooking cost by ten per cent, but it is two rupees less in villages when compared to the cooking cost they receive in the city."
According to the notification dated March 18, under the Mid-Day Meal scheme, village schools receive Rs 3.16 for Classes I to V and Rs 4.72 for Classes VI to VIII. According to the government notification, the government provides wheat and rice to schools for midday meals, whereas, the cost of cooking includes pulses, vegetables, pepper, spices, fuel, edible oil and wages for grinding. Accordingly, city schools must spend between Rs 6.30 and Rs 7.72 to purchase everything, while rural schools must spend between Rs 3.16 and Rs 4.72.
