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Chapter Three

Mid Day Meal Scheme in Tamil Nadu: Field Experience

The Mid-Day Meal Scheme is one of the important schemes that the Government of

India introduced to protect the varied interests of the children attending primary

school. The previous chapter thoroughly discussed about the origin, growth and

implementation issues related to the MDMS. The present chapter-III deals with the

field experience of Tamil Nadu which includes the functioning of the state institutions

while implementing the scheme. The Tamil Nadu state with majority of Tamil

speaking people was under the erstwhile Madras Presidency became a separate state

on the basis of language in 1956. However, on January 14, 1969 Madras state was

renamed as Tamil Nadu with an enactment of the Madras State Act 1968. In the year

1971, the state was comprised of fourteen districts and in 1981 the state was divided

into sixteen districts and further in 1991 the state was divided into twenty-one

districts. According to 2001 Census the Tamil Nadu state has administratively been

divided into 30 districts, 201 sub-districts, 386 CD blocks, 16,317 villages and 832

towns.1 In the state, of the 10.5 million total child population in the age group of 2 to

9 years, about 60 per cent of them were estimated to be living below the poverty line.

Around 45 per cent of children below five years are underweight. There is large

variation between rural and urban areas with reference to the undernutrition. In rural

areas it is 52 per cent as compared with urban 37 per cent.2

Over the years the government has made a number of attempts to combine

provision of food under the Noon Meal Programme (NMP) with other services like

health care, immunization, growth monitoring, and pre and post natal care for women,

communication and nutrition education. This has been done through two main

nutrition and child development programmes. Firstly, the Integrated Child

Development Services (ICDS) which was started in 1976 as a small pilot programme

and secondly, the Tamil Nadu Integrated Nutrition Project (TINP), the phase-I of this

project was started in 1980. As these both nutrition schemes once started expanding,

they were integrated with the NMP infrastructure for preschoolers. Of the 6.3 million

1 Census Report, Government of India, New Delhi, 2001. 2 The Human Development Report of Tamil Nadu, Government of Tamil Nadu, 2001.

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children served by the programme, 2.5 million were in the 2 to 5 years age group and

3.8 million in the five to nine years age group.

In this chapter, the field experience of Tamil Nadu is being taken due to its

overall successful implementation of the scheme. In this context, the aim of this

chapter is to present the field experience of Mid Day Meals Scheme (MDMS) in

Tamil Nadu. To have a comprehensive understanding on the functioning of the

MDMS in Tamil Nadu, the Kancheepuram District has been selected and the selection

of this district in the state for this study is based on random sample. The specific

purpose of visiting the ground is to get view from below about the implementation of

the programme in a specific geographic area and to develop an understanding about

the operationalisation of the MDMS on the ground. Further to find out how far it is

corroborated with official descriptions of its functioning, it’s administrative set-up, its

physical infrastructure and personnel that involved. The researcher had the more

comprehensive visits that were made mostly to the rural centers to find out the actual

picture of the implementation of the programme from a rights point of view.

The Kancheepuram, which was selected for the study, historically is

considered one of the richest districts of the state. Kancheepuram district is situated in

the northeast of Tamil Nadu, adjacent to the Bay of Bengal. It is bounded in the west

by Vellore and Thiruvannamalai districts, in the north by Thiruvallur district and

Chennai district, in the south by Viluppuram district. It lies between 11° 00' to 12° 00'

North latitudes and 77° 28' to 78° 50' East longitudes.3 The district has a total

geographical area of 4,432 km and coastline of 57 km. The town of Kancheepuram is

the district headquarters. The population density of Kancheepuram district is 668 per

sq km. The district has been divided into eight sub-divisions4, 13 CD blocks, 56 towns

and there are 1,091 villages in district. Total population of the district as per the 2001

Census was 2,877,468. The literacy rate of the district is 67.84 percent with 74.72

percent male literacy and 60.78 percent female literacy.5 The male-female ratio in

work participation was 55.18:23.99. Agriculture is the main occupation of the people

with 47 per cent of the population engaged in it. 3 http://www.kanchi.nic.in/ 4 Eight sub-divisions are: Chengalpattu, Cheyyur, Kancheepuram, Madurantakam, Sriperumbudur, Tambaram, Thirukkalukundram and Uthiramerur. See, www.tn.nic.in 5 Census Report, Government of India, 2001.

126

Kancheepuram is also one of the most industrialized districts in the country

and majority of the population of the district are industrial workers who mostly

involved in daily labor. The economic conditions of the labor is not up to the level,

and majority of them comes under the below poverty line. Even though historically

the district is rich in its art and culture, but the people of district are underdeveloped

and majority of them do not have access to minimum necessities. And coming to the

condition of the children, majority of them are far from basic facilities like, proper

nutritious food, safe drinking water, and most importantly basic education. However,

the MDMS is a ray of hope for majority of the children as well as their parents as it is

helped them to overcome not only their problem but also mainly providing access to

education as well as food.

Though the scheme operates in almost all parts of Tamil Nadu, Kancheepuram

district is selected because of its geographical location as it is adjacent district to the

state capital. So that getting information regarding the overall issues related to MDMS

like supply and demand mechanism, monitoring and evaluation of the scheme and

convenience while collecting information both from the state departments as well as

district authorities could be possible. Though the researcher had the language

problem, nearby district of state capital was taken into consideration for availing

proper data from the field.

3.1 MDMS in Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu is a pioneering state to start NMP for school children way back in

1925, with an intention to provide supplementary nutrition to the school going

children. Under this historic programme, the elementary school going children were

provided noon meals for 200 days in a year. Besides government, the scheme was

actively supported by the local government machinery and whole heartedly

contribution from voluntary organizations and most significantly enthusiastic

encouragement from the people. The NMP interestingly started with varied menu that

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including 12 ounces of cooked rice, 8 ounces of sambar and one vegetable curry per

children.6

However, in 1926, the then government of Madras Presidency highlighted on

the Scheme of Compulsory Elementary Education in 26 municipal areas including the

corporation of Madras, with the aim of universalizing primary education.7 The post

independence period has brought many changes in the NMP in Tamil Nadu where the

state government started giving emphasis on education along with nutrition.

Addressing the problems, which are associated with increasing of school enrolment

rate, curtailing of drop-out rates, improving the nutritional levels of children, and

lastly combating the problem of malnutrition. Over two million children in the age

group of 5 to 9 years were also being covered by one or the other feeding programme

in the state. Most significantly, all feeding programmes have been subsumed under a

single scheme (Tamil Nadu – NMP). The major financial assistance for this scheme

has come from the international CARE organization. The scheme covers all 33,880

elementary schools and 27,800 child welfare centers.

The MDMS was introduced in rural areas of Tamil Nadu in 1925 for pre-

school children in the age-group 2 to 5 years and for primary school children in the

age group of 5 to 9 years. Later, from September 1982 this scheme was extended to

urban areas and even old age pensioners were covered from January 1983. From

September 1984, the scheme covered school students of 10-15 years of age. And from

December 1995 pregnant women were brought under the scheme.8 In 1982, the then

Chief Minister, M G Ramachandran (MGR) launched one of the largest expansions of

feeding through the Chief Minister’s Nutritious Noon-Meals Programme, a

programme solely targeted to combat hunger and get children to school. In the words

of M G Ramachandran about the programme “this scheme is an outcome of my

experience of extreme starvation at an age when I knew only to cry when I was

6 Padmini Swaminathan, J Jeyaranjan, R Sreenivasan, K Jayashree, “Tamil Nadu’s Midday Meal Scheme: Where Assumed Benefits Score over Hard Data”, Economic and Political Weekly, October 30, 2004, P-4812. 7 Government of Tamil Nadu, State Administration Report, 2004. 8 Barbara Harriss, ‘Meals and Noon-Meals in South India: Food and Nutrition Policy in the Rural Food Economy of Tamil Nadu State’, Development Studies Occasional Paper No 31, School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia, October 1986.

128

hungry……to picture lakhs and lakhs of poor children who gather to partake of

nutritious meals in the thousands of hamlets and villages all over Tamil Nadu, and

blessing us in their childish prattle, will be a glorious event.”9

One of the important aspects about the state is that there has been constant

improvement in the supply of food under the MDMS. During 1982, along with

education emphasis was given more on nutritious food while including ingredients

like different vegetables, eggs, etc. From 1989, egg was identified as a nutritive intake

and included in the menu and from June 1998 onwards one boiled egg was supplied to

children along with nutritious meal once in a fortnight.10 The frequency of supply one

egg in a fortnight was reduced to one boiled egg once in a week. From April 1996, to

combat the problem of ‘goiter’ in some hilly regions of the state especially the

Nilgiris, Trichy, Salem, and Coimbatore double fortified salt with iron and iodine was

introduced. Apart from this highly nutritious sathu11 was also distributed to those

children who were not eating eggs.

Thus the Chief Minister’s Nutritious NMP of 1982, was mainly aimed at

providing 400 calories of food to the poor children in the state in the age group of 2 to

10. It was estimated that under the programme nearly 55.96 lakhs children were fed in

about 20,747 Child Welfare Centers and 32,470 elementary schools costing Rs. 120

crores per year.12 Under this programme, the government’s contribution was 10 paise

per child per day and provision was made for a 5 paise contribution from local bodies.

Therefore, along with the government, the programme was also taken up with the

voluntary contribution and participation of the local people. Presently the Tamil Nadu

government provides MDM on all the 365 days in an academic year covering all

children in primary schools with all varied menu and nutritious food. For the above

reason the government provides grant to schools about 45 paise per child for feeding

and 5 paise for administrative expenses of the total 50 paise.

9 Ibid, P-16. 10 The Department of Rural Development, Government of Tamil Nadu, 2007. 11 A kind of energy food made of wheat flour and jaggery. This is highly nutritive in quality and essential for growing children. 12 Brindavan C Moses, “Tamil Nadu: Noon Meal Scheme”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-XVIII, No-4 January 22, 1983, P-101.

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However, this was not done by the government on its own; there was a

tremendous pressure from the masses and other civil society organizations as thus the

NMP was further extended to all the pre-primary and elementary schools all over the

state covering 6.5 lakhs children mainly due to the pressure that was built up from the

masses. It was estimated that in overall the NMP covered more than 60 per cent of the

total population of children in the same age group. Children in the age group 2 to 4,

were having food in child welfare centers where as a trained bala sevikas and two

helpers appointed by the government to carry out the feeding programme. In

recruiting bala sevikas and helpers, preference was given to widows and destitute. Of

the total number of beneficiaries of the scheme 17.4 lakhs that includes 13.7 per cent

of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.13

For the development of the MDMS, the government of Tamil Nadu took both

national as well as international assistance. The national assistance from the central

government and the international assistance has come from the CARE and World

Bank. The main purpose was to ensure the quality in the scheme and to cover as many

children as possible under the scheme. The Tamil Nadu Integrated Nutrition Project

(TINP) second phase was introduced in 1989 on a pilot basis with the financial

assistance from the World Bank. During the period, TINP-I operated in 173 rural

blocks and TINP-II covered 316 blocks. In the second phase, the programme could

cover the double the Blocks that of the first phase. While the phase-I of TINP could

only cover ICDS areas, whereas the phase-II was concentrated in the non-ICDS areas.

However, from 1998 onwards the TIN Project was renamed as the World Bank-

ICDS-III, which covered of 19,500 centers.14

TINP was jointly funded by the World Bank and the government of Tamil

Nadu and overseen by the state highest government officer, the Chief Secretary of the

state government and assisted by the other civil servants. The project objective was to

13 Tamil Nadu, Government of, Directorate of Rural Development, 2003. “Origin and Growth of the Nutritious Noon Meal Programme in Tamil Nadu”, paper presented at workshop conducted by Nutrition Foundation of India, New Delhi, on July 31, 2003, mimeo. 14 Devi Sridhar, The Battle Against Hunger: Choice, Circumstances, and the World Bank, OUP, US, 2008.See, http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Efxo4ZdYGdQC&pg=PA35&lpg=PA35&dq=tamil+nadu+mid-day+meals+scheme&source=bl&ots=5nOdGx3Y- &sig=rKnjFnQ3BWDntWpbp_jIz41gvKQ&hl=en&ei=RoYJStWuH4agkQWP0JmiCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6#PPA2,M1 accessed on 12.04.2009.

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reduce malnutrition among children, infant mortality, Vitamin-A deficiency from

under 5 years children, ammonia in pregnant and nursing women.15 But the main

objective of TINP was concentrated upon the children of the age group of 6 to 36

month old, as well as pregnant and nursing women and significantly focusing more

upon the behavioral changes among the mothers.16 Therefore TINP is a growth

monitoring, food supplementation and intensive nutrition counseling programme of

the government of Tamil Nadu. All these services are provided at a community

nutrition centers set up by the government.

After the first phase of TINP (TINP-I) that ended in 1989, funding was

resumed for a period of eight years, by the World Bank, for a second phase (TINP-II).

World Bank made an assessment about the first phase of TINP and it was concluded

that the project under the first phase was less glowing. The evaluation showed a

decline in the wide prevalence of severe undernutrition but an increase in mild and

moderate undernutrition. The World Bank officials reported that there were major

shortcomings during the evaluation as it included inadequate matching of controls in

the TINP-I, delays in evaluation and most significantly poor quality of data collection.

In order to overcome these problems and to thoroughly integrate the health and

nutrition components the TINP phase-II project was initiated.

The TINP-II was renamed as the WB-ICDS-III from 1998 onwards since it

was supported under World Bank funding with an objective of removing malnutrition

of children from the state. Thus, for the below six years old, between the general

ICDS and WB-ICDS III, all rural blocks in the state have in place 10 integrated

services for child development and most urban areas are also covered under ICDS. It

included all total 30,445 preschool noon meal centres, 13, 98,064 children and 5,

35,502 adults.17

15http://www.nihfw.org/ndc-nihfw/html/Programmes/TamilNaduIntegratedNutrition.htm 16 The central tent of TINP and the World Bank approach is that undernutrition is the result of inappropriate child care practices and not of income, famine, or unpreventable health problems. See Devi Sridhar (2008). 17 Anuradha Khati Rajivan, History of Direct Nutrition Schemes in Tamil Nadu, 2005. www.righttofoodindia.org.

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Meanwhile, the state government initiated a number of reforms in order to

strengthen MDMS. These initiatives includes that the teachers who involved in the

NMP were relieved from the meal related responsibilities and in their place a cook

and a helper were appointed for every 500 children in the school. The division of

responsibilities and allocation of separate duties was a major step in this direction

taken by the government to strengthen the scheme as well as bringing desired reforms

in the scheme. On the other hand this step was taken by the government to separate

the education from the nutrition by assigning the exclusive job of teaching to the

teachers and the non-teaching to the other professionals. Thus teachers were given

relief with the appointment of cooks and helpers, as a result this separation of

responsibilities. The burden of the scheme upon the teacher has been reduced and they

could concentrate more on teaching.

The government initiation for the division of responsibilities between teaching

and non-teaching provided ample of opportunities for women especially in rural areas

while generating employment accommodating them into the programme at various

levels. Most of literate and semi-literate men and women in the rural areas pipelined

to secure work opportunities in the education department through the MDMS. This

was evident in the appointment process of cooks and helpers; emphasis was given on

certain minimum educational qualification so that they could understand the

importance of health and nutrition of the children than mere serving meals to them.

Instead of generating funds from national and international agencies and instead of

getting voluntary contribution from the local people the government undertook the

entire responsibility of funding the programme.

Though the respective governments trying to focus their attention to combat

hunger and starvation at the national level the Tamil Nadu was the first state in India

that initiated feeding programme to combat the malnutrition and other food related

problems of the school going children.18 The state has recognized that the social

investment in nutrition could reduce health care costs thereby reducing the incidence

of non-communicable diseases, improving the productivity and economic growth,

promoting educational attainment, intellectual capacity and social development.

18 Social Welfare and Nutritious Meal Programme Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, 2002.

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Further, the government also realized that the mere distribution of food is not

sufficient if it is not having nutritious value. Therefore, the Tamil Nadu government

has given utmost importance on children’s right to nutritious food along with

children’s right to food.

Following the food based approach to combat malnutrition; the government of

Tamil Nadu introduced Noon Meal both as a supplement and a substitute for home

feeding. It is considered to be richer and covers a large number of beneficiaries as

compared to other states of India. The experiment of Noon-Meal Scheme of Tamil

Nadu government not only forced other state governments to implement the scheme

but made the Central government to seriously consider implementing the scheme as a

matter of child right to nutritious food. The scheme has also attracted young children

to school, especially those who were otherwise irregular due to some reason or the

other.

The programme in the state was extended to urban pre-schoolers, rural- urban

primary school children, and school children in rural areas up to 15 years of age.

Interestingly, unlike other parts of Country, the Tamil Nadu government included the

old age pensioners’ in 1983 and in 1984, the programme was again expanded to cover

urban school children up to 15 years of age. From December 1995, women were also

started getting a noon meal for a four months period during their period of pregnancy.

Thus, the Tamil Nadu Noon-Meals Programme starting from pre schoolers and school

children, it included adult categories with an effort to make the scheme a hunger-

health-nutrition effort with social security for old, the destitute and the widows.

Table 3.1: School Lunch Menu of Tamil Nadu in 2007

Days Menu

Monday and

Wednesday

Bulgar wheat uppuma or Khichri/Greens and dhal kootu,

Payasam, Papaya/Tomato/Nellikai, eggs

Tuesday Tamarind rice/Greens kootu with dhal /Balahar Payasam,

Papaya/Tomato/Nellikai, green gram

Thursday Dhal rice, Greens and dhal kootu, Balahar Payasam,

Papaya/Tomato/Nellikai, Bengal Gram

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Friday Potato, rice, sambar

Saturday and Sunday Sambar and rice

Source: Department of Rural Development, Government of Tamil Nadu: 2007.

Prior to 1982-83, as we stated earlier, the programme in the state had started

with 12 ounces of cooked rice, 8 ounces of sambar and one vegetable. The notion then

had been to combat hunger specifically among children that could lead to lack of

concentration in studies. The government of Tamil Nadu has made their NMP menu

in a very systematic way. On Monday and Wednesday, children get Bulgar wheat

uppuma or Khichri/Greens and dhal kootu, Payasam, Papaya/Tomato/Nellikai, eggs.

On Tuesday, Tamarind rice/Greens kootu with dhal /Balahar Payasam,

Papaya/Tomato/Nellikai, green gram is provided. On Thursday and Friday children

were provided Dhal rice, Greens and dhal kootu, Balahar Payasam,

Papaya/Tomato/Nellikai, Bengal Gram, Potato, rice, sambar. On Saturday and

Sunday, children get a sound food of sambar and rice. So from the table (3.1) it is

found that children have better option regarding their lunch and therefore they do not

feel distracted from the noon meal.

Tamil Nadu is the first state to make a systematic menu with detailed specified

nutritious ingredients. From the above table it can be stated that the state government

is much more active in providing nutritious food to its children with varied menu.

Different menu with two days provision of eggs not only created interest among the

children to attend school regularly but also added nutrition to their life. During the

field visit, it is also observed that children are quite happy with the varied menu and

they enjoy while having MDM. The state government also provides meals even on

holidays including Saturday and Sunday.

However, the government brought a major change with the strong emphasis on

nutritive value of the scheme since 1982. Government’s emphasis is on the

provisioning of nutritious noon meal rather than just MDM which shows its interest

for protecting child right to food. Since then nutritive ingredients have been included

in the menu. More importantly the scheme itself is now more known as a nutritious

meal programme rather than just a NMP. There was an addition to the menu in the

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year 1989; the government started providing eggs twice in a month. From November

1, 2001 onwards a new scheme of protein rich food, viz, 20 gms each of potato, green

gram and black bengal gram per beneficiary in a week instead of egg was introduced

by the then chief minister Jayalalitha. As per this new scheme, it is estimated that,

children are now getting 158.2 calories of energy and 8.54 grams of protein instead of

the earlier 79.6 calories of energy and 6.5 gram of protein.

Table 3.2: Number of Beneficiaries of NMP among Primary School Children, Tamil Nadu, 2002-03.

Standard

Boys Girls Total

Enrolled Beneficiary

% Enrolled

Beneficiary % Enrolled Beneficiary %

I 575745 394534 68.53 548284 378133 68.97 1124019 772667 68.74 II 540267 390412 72.26 516124 367814 71.26 1056391 758226 71.78 III 544698 433381 79.56 521758 361364 69.26 1066456 794745 74.52 IV 578133 300404 67.53 543501 378029 69.55 1121634 768433 68.51 V 533363 374105 70.14 510379 356383 69.83 1043742 730488 69.99 Total 2772206 1982836 71.53 264004

6 1841723 69.76 5412252 3824559 70.66

Source: Department of Education, Government of Tamil Nadu. 2004.

The Department of Elementary Education classifies elementary schools in the

state into seven categories, depending on who owns infrastructure, which pays the

teachers, to whom teachers report, etc. Despite this wide range, panchayat union

schools account for more than half the students enrolled at the primary level in the

state, while about one third of the students are enrolled in aided schools. Together,

these two types of schools account for nearly nine-tenth of students enrolled in

primary classes in the state.

The table (3.2) indicates that the NMP benefits 38.24 lakh students in the

primary classes amounting to about 71 per cent of the children enrolled in classes I to

V. In this group the boys benefited marginally more compared to the girl students.

The data also illustrates that the percentage of children benefited in each class there is

a wide variation. Only 68 per cent of children in fourth standard have benefited by the

NMP whereas, about 75 per cent of the children in third standard have benefited by

the programme. This variation is wider among boys; eighty per cent of boys in third

standard are beneficiaries whereas only 68 per cent of the fourth standard boys are

beneficiaries of the NMP. The NMP of Tamil Nadu benefits 70.66 lakh students in the

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primary classes amounting to about 71 per cent of the children enrolled in classes I to

V. While 68 per cent of children in 4th standard have benefited by the NMP, about 75

per cent of the children in 3rd standard have benefited by the programme.

If we look into the differences across gender, we find no difference in the

predominantly rural panchayat union schools. On the other hand, in the aided schools,

there is some variation as only about 60 per cent of enrolled girls take noon-meal

compared to 65 per cent of boys in the aided schools. The difference is sharper in

urban schools as only about 30 per cent of enrolled girl children take noon meal

whereas among boys, it is around 40 per cent.

Table 3.3: Noon Meal Coverage in Tamil Nadu (2002-03)

Scheme No of centers covered No of children covered No of adults covered Total

Coverage

Pre-School

ICDS 10482 449295 140782 590077

WBICDS III 19500 878241 391040 1269281

PTMGR urban 719 29309 3977 33286

Total 30701 1356845 535799 1892644

School Centers

Rural 38378 5916829 0 5916829

Urban 2059 472760 0 472760

Source: Department of Rural Development, Government of Tamil Nadu, 2001.

According to the 2002-03 data, the NMP covers the feeding of over 8 million

people nearly every day through the network of over 71,000 centers across the state.

Of these, over 7.6 million are children from the pre-school to the school ages and rests

of them were old age pensioners. From the table (3.3) it is seen that the coverage rate

of NMP is much higher in rural areas than in urban centers. In rural areas 59, 16,829

children are covered, and 4, 72,760 children are covered in urban centers in the year

2002-03. This signifies that the scheme has a major impact upon the rural children

than in urban.

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The table (4.3) also indicates that the state government has three different

schemes like ICDS, WB-ICDS III and PTMGR NMP. Among all these the

performance of WB-ICDS III is quite high. Thus the World Bank’s intervention in the

coverage is quite significant than the state government’s coverage (Table 4.3). The

number of centers and the number of children covered respectively under the WB-

ICDS III and state governments are 19,500 and 87, 8241 respectively under the WB-

ICDS III and 10482 and 449295 under the state government. On the other hand, under

PTMGR NMP, 29309 beneficiaries are covered. It is significant to mention that the

success of Tamil Nadu’s NMP could also due to the support of the international

agencies like World Bank, CARE, UNICEF, etc. Since the inception of the NMP or

even prior to it, the World Bank has played a crucial role in successful

implementation of the programme, covering majority of the children, and trying to

remove the problem of undernutrition among the children and thereby strengthening

the scheme in the state.

Table 3.4: Age and Standard wise Per Capita Cost of Food under the MDMS

Age 2+ to 4+ Standard I – VIII Standard IX – X Adults Items

Q (gms) V Q(gms) V Q (gms) V Q (gms) V

Rice 80 0.55 100 0.69 120 0.83 200 1.38

Pulses 10 0.19 15 0.28 15 0.28 15 0.28

Oil 2 0.10 1 0.05 1 0.05 1 0.05

Condiments

fuel and

vegetables

- 0.23 - 0.23 - 0.23 - 0.23

Total noon

meal cost

- 0.23 - 1.25 - 1.39 - 1.94

Egg (weekly)

Rs. 1.30X7

- 0.18 - 0.18 - 0.18 - 0.18

Transport

charges @

1.8 per cent

- 0.01 - 0.02 - 0.02 - 0.02

Total food

cost

- 1.26 - 1.45 - 1.59 - 2.14

Source: Department of Social Welfare and Nutritious Meal Programme, Government of Tamil Nadu, 2003.

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Under nutritious meal programme, a hot lunch of rice cooked with dal,

soybean flour, vegetables, oil and condiments is provided to the children. Initially

only dal was used as a protein source. But from August 1992, dal and defatted soya

flour was used in equal quantities, given the nutritive value and lower cost of the

flour. For school children the ingredients were same, but the scale of provisions was

larger. On week ends corn rava upama19 with vegetables and condiments were served

and a boiled egg was provided once in a fortnight. Provisions were made in such a

manner that children, who do not eat eggs, got a portion of sathu food instead. On

special occasions like local festivals, sweet Pongal 20 is provided. The composition,

cost and scale of ingredients under the NMP and corresponding nutritive value and

the composition of the sathu maavu21, the complementary nutrition supplement

provided to children in the 6 months to 36 months age group as well as to pregnant

and nursing women is given in the table (3.4)

Table 3.5: Energy Supplement and Additional Calories under MDMS

Items Weight (gms) Cost (Rs.) Supply Day Energy in calories Protein(grams)

Potato 20 0.16 Friday 19.04 .32

Green gram 20 0.54 Tuesday 72.0 3.42

Black gram 20 0.54 Thursday 66.8 4.80

Total - 1.24 - 158.2 8.54

Source: Department of Social Welfare and Nutritious Meal Programme, Government of Tamil Nadu, 2003.

The ingredients of nutritious noon-meal with quantity stipulations and

calorific additions along with cost estimates are detailed in the table (3.5). The energy

supplements and the calories value is a major factor for the state government as it

gives more emphasis on nutritious meals that providing mere a simple meals to the

children. Therefore, the state government has systematically decided the ingredients

of the meals according to its nutritive value and additional calories. From the above

19 It is usually made with refined wheat grains, which Indians generally call suji and is also known in the south of India as rava. Upma is mostly a South Indian breakfast dish. 20 The rice boiled with milk and jaggery during the Pongal festival is also called Pongal. 21 Sathu maavu literally means Nutritious Flour. It is mainly used to make Kanji (Gruel). It is prepared using variety of grains and nuts. It is a very good alternative for the usual breakfast.

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table it is seen that the government has given more emphasis on potato, green gram as

well as black gram as the part of meals. Potato has 19.04 energy and 0.32 proteins,

green gram has 72.0 energy and 3.42 proteins. But black gram is seems to be more

nutritious as it contains 66.8 energy and 4.80 proteins. However providing the above

ingredients to the children also indicates the government’s measures to improve the

nutritional level of the children which is very significant during childhood. Even the

day for providing the above ingredients is fixed which indicates the government’s

action systematically.

3.2 MDMS: Financial Arrangements Given below is the information regarding budgetary expenditure on nutrition

and its proportion to total state revenue expenditure and revenue expenditure on social

services.

Table 3.6: Budgetary Revenue Expenditure on Nutrition, Social Services (1992-01) (Rs in Lakh)

Year Total state

expenditure on

nutrition

Total

expenditure

on social

services

Total state

expenditure

% of nutrition

expenditure to

social

expenditure

% of nutrition

expenditure to

total revenue

expenditure

1 2 3 4 5 6

1992-93 27,231 3,16,095 8,54,253 8.61 3.18

1993-94 28,251 3,58,607 8,75,801 7.88 3.23

1994-95 36,518 3,84,762 9,63,465 9.49 3.79

1995-96 35,656 4,33,290 10,91,057 8.23 3.27

1996-97 37,719 5,12,134 13,06,488 7.37 2.89

1997-98 40,576 5,61,256 14,95,085 7.23 2.71

1998-99 48,677 7,10,134 17,69,740 6.85 2.75

1999-00 52,389 7,68,115 20,70,280 6.82 2.53

2000-01 58,118 8,16,042 21,56,487 7.12 2.70

Source: Statistical Handbook of Tamil Nadu and Finance Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, 2001.

From the figure it is evident that expenditure in nutrition, social services over

the past years of the state’s budgetary commitment to nutrition has increased

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significantly. The budgetary allocation has increased from Rs. 27, 231 lakhs in 1992-

93 to Rs. 58,118 lakhs in 2000-01. Expenditure on the ‘nutrition’ head of account

ranks number three (3), after education followed by medical and public health. It

signifies that nutrition has been received prior attention from the government as the

state is vulnerable to it, not only in nutrition, even in the social sector, budget

allocation has gradually increased from 3,16,095 in 1992-93 to 8,16,042 in 2000-01.

The above table indicates that out of total 21, 56,487 state expenditure, total 58, 118

and 8, 16, 042 is invested under nutrition and social services respectively.

3.3 MDMS: Implementing Mechanisms The various functionaries involved in administering the Tamil Nadu NMP

provide us the detailed descriptions of the organizational and administrative aspects of

the scheme. The administrative set up to implement the NMP is discussed starting

from state level to the local level. As the MDMS has been successfully implemented

in the state, emphasis is given on detailed institutional as well as procedural

involvement for the implementation of the scheme.

3.3.1 MDMS at the State Level

In Tamil Nadu, the Department of Rural Development is the nodal

department/agency. It is responsible for the working and implementation of the

programme. Next to the Rural Development, the Director of Social Welfare co-

ordinate with the Ministry as well as with the Social Welfare Department in

monitoring and supervising the scheme through monthly review meeting for various

aspects of the district performance.

The Department of Rural Development and Department of Municipal

Administration run the rural and urban Noon Meal Centres respectively. The two

departments spend on salaries and other allowances to the members of staff involved

in the implementation of the PTMGR NMP. Honorarium for the workers in the NMC,

vessels and other provisions needed for cooking and serving for food, other office and

travel expenses and the capital expenditure for the construction of noon-meal centres.

Thus the total expenditure for the implementation of the PTMGR NMP is allocated in

the budgets of the departments of rural development, municipal administration and

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civil supplies. Along with this the Department of Social Welfare, Department of

Elementary Education, Department of Finance, Department of Health, etc also have a

role in the implementation process. The Department of Social Welfare and Secretariat

spend a very insignificant amount of money for supervising the implementation of the

scheme.

Table 3.7: State level Administrative Mechanism for Implementation of MDMS

At the State Level Department of Rural Development

At the District Level The Asst Collector NMP

At the Block Level Block Development Officer

At the Village Level Leader of Gram Panchayat/ Municipality

At the School Level VEC and PTA

Source: Field Survey: 2007.

The state government from time to time has systematically developed the

scheme activities. The government revised its orders and supplied with financial

assistance to develop the scheme. In 2000, the government of Tamil Nadu supplied

new furniture, purchased of new vessels and provided with water purifier to schools.22

The government formed 1000 SHGs among artisans at a cost of Rs.100 lakhs to

manage the child feeding scheme23 and established a number of voluntary

organizations for the welfare of children in need of care and protection.24 Further, the

Karunanidhi government passed an order under, NPNSPE Action Plan, for release of

Central Assistance towards Management, Monitoring and Evaluation (MME)

Component of MDM. It sanctioned the expenditure of Rs.1, 65, 84,00025 and further

sanctioned an overall expenditure of Rs.74.76 lakh in 2007.26

The Department of Social Welfare & Nutritious Meal Programme under

Puratchi Thalaivar MGR Nutritious Meal Programme constructed 142 kitchen-cum-

stores in nutritious meal centres under NPNSPE, 2007-08. With the growth of the

scheme the state government undertook many decisions to strengthen the 22 G.O.Ms.No.56 dated 25.05.2000; Govt. of Tamil Nadu. G.O.Ms.No.58 dated 26.05.2000, Govt. of Tamil Nadu, G.O.Ms.No.60, dated 26.06.2000, Govt. of Tamil Nadu. 23 G.O.Ms.No.172 dated 11.9.2003, Govt. of Tamil Nadu. 24 G.O.Ms.No.140 dated 22.9.2006, Govt. of Tamil Nadu.25 G.O.Ms.No.196 dated 19.12.2006, Govt. of Tamil Nadu. 26 G.O.Ms.No.44 dated 29.3.2007, Govt. of Tamil Nadu.

141

infrastructural facilities like provisioning of drinking water to the school premises,

construction of kitchen and store rooms, purchasing of utensils for cooking and

distribution of MDM.27 Even the state government provided computer to the above

said departments so that they can access information, maintain record, etc. For this

purpose the government sanctioned Rs.14.75 lakhs.28 Significantly, the government

expanded and supplied Iron and Iodine enriched Salt (Double Fortified Salt) to all the

30 districts as part of health intervention programme. Further, an Action Plan was

released for the first installment of central assistance towards Management,

Monitoring and Evaluation under NPNSPE for the year 2007-08. And for this,

Rs.79.56 lakh was sanctioned.29 The government of Tamil Nadu, in the year 2007-08,

renamed NPNSPE as NPMDMS (National Programme for MDMS) and extended the

scheme to the upper primary stage of education from class VI to class VIII in 44

Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs).30

Along with this the state government has a major priority of making Tamil

Nadu malnutrition Free State and incorporated the life cycle and rights based

approach as a strategy to eradicate malnutrition.31 At the state level there is a

Nutrition Surveillance Cell set up under State Nutrition Agency with the technical

support from the NIN, New Delhi. Along with this the state intended to bring changes

in the scheme, there is periodic reviews and updates of nutrition policy. Further, there

is an intersectoral coordination which is over all responsible for reviewing the

activities of various departments dealing with achieving nutrition goals.

Further, the government has set up a coordination mechanism at various

levels. There is a State Monitoring Committee, chaired by the Chief Minister, to

review the scheme annually. There is also an Inter-sectoral Coordination and

Monitoring Committee for the state, chaired by the Chief Secretary, to review

periodically. The review is mostly linked to the review of the 18 point programme

including:

• Official monthly review meetings of the: 27 G.O. (2D).No.38 dated 30.5.2007, Govt. of Tamil Nadu. 28 G.O.(2D).No.39, dated 30.5.2007. Govt. of Tamil Nadu 29 G.O.(D) No.9 dated 9.1.2008, Govt. of Tamil Nadu. 30 G.O.(D).No.10 dated 1.2.2008, Govt. of Tamil Nadu. 31 G.O Ms.No.55dated 8.4.2002, Govt. of Tamil Nadu.

142

- District Collector and team of officials and elected leaders

- Municipal Local Bodies

- Town Panchayats

- Panchayat Unions

• Gram Sabha meetings of the Panchayats to include review of interventions for

Malnutrition Free Tamil Nadu.

• Enhance efficiency of direct nutrition programme for the poor children by

decentralizing the management of such programmes to local bodies, Self Help

Groups and NGOs.

3.3.1.1 Malnutrition Free Tamil Nadu Monitoring Committee

This is a state level committee headed and chaired by the state Chief Minister.

The other members of the committee includes Ministers of Social Welfare, Health,

Rural Development, Agriculture, Food and Civil Supplies, Committee Industry,

Municipal Administration & Water Supply, School Education, Adi Dravida & Tribal

Development Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Department and State

Planning Commission. The Chief Secretary and Secretaries of all the above

mentioned departments is also the member of the committee. The Committee meets

once a year to monitor the overall development in the scheme.

3.3.1.2 Intersectional Coordination and Monitoring Committee for

Malnutrition Free Tamil Nadu

After Malnutrition Free Tamil Nadu Monitoring Committee, there is also an

Intersectional Coordination and Monitoring Committee for Malnutrition Free Tamil

Nadu at the state level. The Committee works under the above committee and it is

consisted off Secretaries and Heads of Departments various departments including the

department of Social Welfare, Health, Rural Development, Agriculture, Food and

Civil Supplies, Industry, Municipal Administration & Water Supply, School

Education, Adi Dravida & Tribal Development Planning, Development and Special

Initiatives Department and State Planning Commission. They meet twice a year to

review the scheme.

143

During the interaction with the officials at the state level in Tamil Nadu, it is

been noticed that even though they have been showing interest for the MDMS, but

their main intention was to remove malnutrition from the state at any cost. While

expressing their opinion regarding MDMS, officials stated that the scheme is now a

necessity for the people and due to people’s demand both the political parties(DMK

and AIDMK) have been supporting the scheme. Even though the Department of

Social Welfare has been involved in the scheme since long period, but the rural

development, municipal administration and civil supplies departments dominates as

the direct expenditure of the state government for the programme is happening

through the three departments.

While focusing upon the co-ordination among the districts for various issues

related to implementation of the MDMS, the officials at the state level mentioned that

they maintain co-operation and co-ordination as well as frequently monitor the

scheme at the district level. It has been even informed that they have monthly once

review meeting represented by the district collectors, rural development ministers,

chief secretary as well as secretaries of the different departments involved in the

scheme. In the monthly review meeting, the concerned district authorities express

their grievances, share their experiences, discuss about their requirements for the

smooth functioning of the scheme at the district level. State officials stated that

whenever they have received any demand from the district, they immediately tried to

fulfill it and they supply food grains as well as all infrastructural facilities regularly so

that the respective district should not face any problem during the implementation of

the scheme.

3.3.2 MDMS at District Level

At the district level, the Assistant Collector for NMP is overall responsible for

scheme implementation. He works in co-ordination with the district collector and

District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) and review the performance and

implementation of the scheme at block level and issues instruction to improve the

standard of the scheme. At the district level, the Social Welfare Department is

responsible for ICDS, whereas, the Department of NMP is responsible for the

implementation of the NMP.

144

Though district plays most important role in implementation of the

programme, in Tamil Nadu there is a separate department established only to look

after the various issues of MDMS. Like the state level Monitoring Committee, there is

also a District Level Coordination and Monitoring Committee headed by the district

collector. The committee also includes the District level officials of Social Welfare,

Health, Rural Development, Agriculture, Food and Civil Supplies, Industry,

Municipal Administration & Water Supply, School Education, Adi Dravida and

Tribal Development. The Committee also includes the elected leaders of Panchayat

and Municipalities and local NGOs selected by District Collector. The Committee

meets once a month to review the process of implementation.

During the field visit it is found that the district Kancheepuram is well

equipped with the infrastructure like a separate department with an assistant collector

to NMP with an adequate staff who works under the district collector and gives time

to time report to him. It was also noticed by the researcher in the field that these staff

members were provided with basic infrastructural facilities like a vehicle for the

official transportation, computer facility that is connected with online facility with

other departments to get information and to maintain record of MDMS.

The staffs include a deputy collector to the office assistant. The District

Collector, District Revenue Officer, the Personal Assistant (PA-NMP) to Collector

also pay surprise visit to the central kitchens and tuning for better performance. The

PA-NMP to Collector visits regularly to each an every school for the sake of

monitoring as well as evaluation of the scheme. Even though at the state level

Department of Rural Development is known as the nodal agency but at the district

level, the Department of Social Welfare still play a dominant role in dealing with the

scheme. Recently it has announced several checking system including flying squads

to monitor the scheme and to eradicate false accounts of pilferage and lootings of food

grains and other materials.

District level authorities are mainly responsible for overall implementation of

the scheme as well as monitoring and checking of corruption in feeding scheme is

also another priority of the state government. According to PA-NMP to the district

collector, regarding support from the state government on MDMS, she explained

145

several issues that came to the forefront.32 She points out that the district has not faced

any problem regarding the implementation of MDMS from the state authorities. She

gets all sorts of supports as well as co-operation from the state government and

district authorities whenever she required. She highlighted that Kancheepuram district

gets all supports from the state government in time and whenever she made any

complain, her complains got immediate attention from the higher authorities.

While interacting with the district collector (Shri Pradeep Yadav, IAS) during

the field visit regarding MDMS, it is noticed that he is over all satisfied with the

implementation of the NMP in his district. He mentioned that while interacting with

the people, he never received any complain regarding the scheme and mostly he

received suggestions from the people as well as from the local NGO’S working for

the scheme. Any matter related to the MDMS, he consults the PA-NMP and usually

go for surprise checking to different schools randomly. Most importantly while

interacting with the collector, one thing came out that the district is trying it best to

bring more qualitative changes than earlier as it is protecting the children’s interest.

3.3.3 MDMS at Block Level

The Block Development Officer and the Extension Officers (NMP) are given

responsibility to see the implementation of the programme at the block level of the

Kancheepuram district. All these officers work under the supervision of the district

collector and the PA-NMP. Their responsibility is to inform the district authority

periodically at the time of procurement as well as during distribution of food to the

children. They also involve in verifying the stock and other inventories of the month

and make compulsory monthly review of MDMS.

There is a fixed administrative set up to deal with the NMP at the block level

in Kancheepuram. There is one Extension Officer for each eight blocks and one junior

assistant for the whole blocks. They are the mediating agency between the district

authorities and the village authorities. They keep informing the district administration

regarding the day to day happenings of the MDMS and also pass information to the

village authorities. At the block level, the Block Development Officer and the 32 Interaction with Mrs. T M T Seetha Lashmi, Deputy Collector, NMP, Kancheepuram District, November 12, 2007.

146

Extension Officers (NMP) is responsible for monitoring and evaluation of the scheme.

Sometimes the district collector goes for surprise visit to the blocks based on

the report of the BDOs. They also maintain the attendance record, required food grain

for their respective blocks, grants finance for the transportation charges of food grain

to the school, pays financial support to the schools for the infrastructural

development. They also made the payment for the organisers, cooks and helpers in

their respective blocks. Their major responsibility is to monitor the quality and

quantity of food as per the norms and supply of eggs prescribed by government with

the required calories. They monitor the scheme and interact with the beneficiaries and

teachers while or before implementing the scheme. The BDOs also interact with the

Village Education Committee and Parent Teacher Association frequently for

discussing how to improve the quality of the scheme and for overall implementation

of the scheme smoothly.

3.3.4 MDMS at the School Level

School is the last strata of the implementation ladder, at the school level; the

school head master is given overall responsibility to implement the scheme. The

members of the Parent Teacher Association, the head master and one of the teachers

of the school supervise the functions of cooking, serving and maintaining hygiene. At

the school level, even though there are separate staffs’ appointed, but still teachers

have a major say in the decision making as the scheme is directly related to the

children.

All the four schools visited under the field survey have three staffs: they are

one organiser, one cook and one helper. The three staffs are appointed by the gram

panchayat members with consultation of the head master of the school. Even though

there are three separate staffs look after the scheme but head master of the school is

over all responsible. The organizer is over all responsible for managing the scheme.

He/she is responsible for procurement of food from the officials and distributes the

daily required food grain to the cook. He/she maintains the attendance record

everyday and assists the school authorities like head master, VEC members, and PTA

members regarding distribution of information. Organisers were given the opportunity

to attend the meeting called by the district and block authorities. While interacting

147

with the organisers, cooks and helpers in Kancheepuram District, it is found that they

are happy with their salary and they receive it regularly without any delay. They are

mostly educated (above +2) and based on their educational qualification they are

selected by the government.

Coming to the monitoring of the scheme in Kancheepuram, the researcher

found that along with school teachers, VEC and PTA members play very significant

role in the implementation of the scheme. They meet every week and discuss the

various issues related to the MDMS. Important among them were PTA has a major

role in monitoring as they feel their children are availing food so that they have to be

more proactive along with the government in implementing the scheme. These two

important bodies at the village level involve in mobilizing the public and also

generating funds for the infrastructural development of the scheme. PTA members

regularly monitor the cooking process and also help during the distribution of meals.

Most of the time, it was, during field visit, observed that mothers of the children visit

the school during lunch hour mainly to find out what their children are going to have

in the meals and how it is served.

The Department of Rural Development and Department of Municipal

Administration run the rural and urban Noon Meal Centers respectively. They bear

the amounts related to salaries and other allowances of staff involved in the

implementation of the NMP, honorarium for the workers, vessels and other provisions

needed for cooking and serving for food, other office and travel expenses and the

capital expenditure for the construction of noon-meal centers.

Table 3.8: Department wise Expenditures on NMP at State Level

(Rs in Thousands) Departments 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03

Rural

Development

974970 1970015 1484036 1634365 1488078 1537806

Municipal

Administration

47883 65368 78296 79465 69064 86423

Civil Supplies 1031466 343504 498100 989430 832717 1295555

Total 2054271 2378887 2060432 2703290 2389859 2919782

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Source: Department of Rural Development, Government of Tamil Nadu: 2005.

From the above table (3.8), it can be drawn that the total expenditure on

PTMGR NMP increased from around Rs 205.42 crore in 1997-98 to Rs 291.98 crore

in 2002-03. However, the there has been a decline in the number of beneficiaries from

65, 68,403 in 1997- 98 to 65, 04,642 in 2002-03. Even though three departments

(Rural Development, Municipal Administration and Civil Supplies) are involved in

budgetary expenditure for NMP, but the above table indicates that the Rural

Development bears the majority cost of Rs. 1537806 thousand as compare to other

two departments. The above table also indicates that the coverage of NMP is much

higher in rural areas as compare to urban centres.

Thus, the total expenditure for the implementation of the NMP is allocated in

the budgets of the Departments of Rural Development, Municipal Administration and

Civil Supplies. Since 1995, the Union government has been providing free rice for 10

months a year at the rate of 100 grams per day for every student in the classes’ I-V

under NP-NSPE.

3.4 MDMS and its Components of Expenditure The success and failure of a scheme is also depends on the allocation of funds

among the various components of expenditure. The expenditure is divided into four

broad categories as under the expenditure for payment towards salaries, wages,

honorarium, dearness allowances, loans to employees and repayment of these are

grouped under the head ‘salary and other allowances’. Office expenses include

expenditure related to maintenance of office such as stationary, travel expenses, fuel

and other expenses. The total money spent on purchase of rice (excluding the free

supply of rice by the central government), oil, pulses, condiments, vegetables, salt and

fuel. Other miscellaneous expenditure is grouped under ‘other expenses’.

State’s total expenditure on NMP has increased from around Rs 205.42 crore

in 1997-98 to Rs 291.98 crore in 2002-03, though there has been a slight decline in

the number of beneficiaries from 65, 68,403 in 1997-98 to 65, 04,642 in 2002-03. The

increase in expenditure on salary and allowances increased from Rs. 39.38 crore in

149

1997-98 to Rs 133. 54 crore in 1998-99. The replacement of provision of eggs once in

a week, boiled potatoes, black and green grams thrice a week from 2001, and increase

in the allocation of purchase of vegetables, condiments and fuel from 18 paise per

student to 23 paise in 2001 to 35 paise in 2003 are reasons for the continuous increase

in this expenditure.

3.5 The Impact of NMP on Nutrition and Education The NMP in the state has created an impressive impact on the child health and

education as the scheme has many positive aspects. The overall important aspect of

the programme is that the nutritional intake of the children has increased and drop out

rate has declined considerably in the state.

Table 3.9: NMP and Enrolment Rate

Enrolment in classes I – V, Tamil Nadu (2002-03)

Class Boys % of total Girls % of total Total

I 575745 51.2 548284 48.7 1124029

II 540267 51.1 516124 48.8 1056391

III 544698 51.1 521758 48.9 1066456

IV 578133 51.5 543501 48.4 1121634

V 533363 51.1 510379 48.9 1043742

Total 2772206 51.2 2640046 48.8 5412252

Source: Department of Elementary Education, Government of Tamil Nadu.

During the year 2002-03, the total numbers of children enrolled in primary

classes (I-V) were about 54.12 lakhs. Proportion of boys enrolled in schools out of

total students enrolled was slightly higher at 51.2 per cent compared to girls who

constitute 48.8 per cent. The NMP covers 38.24 lakhs students in the primary classes

amounting to about 71 per cent of the children enrolled in class, I-V. Total 68.74 per

cent in Ist standard, 71 per cent in IInd standard, 75per cent in III standard, 68 per

cent of children are in IVth standard, and 69.99 per cent of the Vth standard children

are benefited from the NMP.

150

Table 3.10: Drop-Out Rate in Tamil Nadu

Year Boys Girls Total

1987-88 19.44 24.45 21.78

1988-89 19.17 24.01 21.42

1989-90 18.78 23.64 21.05

1990-91 18.27 22.68 20.32

1991-92 17.71 21.16 19.31

1992-93 17.11 19.62 18.27

1993-94 16.39 18.35 17.30

1994-95 15.58 17.65 16.54

1995-96 14.88 16.97 15.85

1996-97 14.05 16.20 15.06

1997-98 13.99 16.18 15.05

1998-99 12.98 16.15 14.52

1999-00 12.93 16.07 14.41

2000-01 12.86 16.03 14.40

Source: Department of Education and Literacy, Government of Tamil Nadu,

2003.

As it mentioned the second objective of the NMP is to help in reducing the

drop out rate at the primary level. The data shows that during 1987-88, when the drop

out rate for primary class students was 21.78, it has declined to 14.4 per cent in 2001.

Most of the researchers have argued that there is a significant co-relation between

NMP and declining drop out rate in India in general and in Tamil Nadu as particular.

3.6 Field Survey in Kancheepuram: An Analysis In order to understand the actual functioning of the NMP at the grassroots

level, and to record first-hand observations that noon-meal centre authorities may

have, the researcher undertook field visit. In-depth study of four schools, two in

Kancheepuram block and two in Sriperumbudur block of Kancheepuram district were

under taken for the sample. The purpose of this visit was to gather response from the

ground and to have an understanding of how far the operationalisation of the scheme

on the ground corroborated with officials and their official record descriptions of its

151

functioning, its administrative set-up, its physical infrastructure and other issues

involved.

The various functionaries involved in administering the scheme in noon-meal

centres provided with detailed descriptions of the organizational and administrative

aspects of the scheme. But the main objective of the study (to find out whether the

NMP has had any role in fulfilling the children’s right to food and education) became

a constant factor during the field visit. During the visit, apart from the beneficiaries,

information was gathered from the officials concerned from the three levels i.e. is the

state level, block level and the village level. For this reason, researcher visited the

Secretariat in Chennai to gather information. The state Secretariat is the highest

administrative office and information has been secured from the highest authorities

and listing the institutional aspects of the administration of the scheme. The

researcher also consulted the State Institute of Rural Development (SIRD),

Chengalpattu and number of district rural development authorities to gather primary

information regarding the situation of the scheme implementation in rural areas of

Tamil Nadu in general and Kancheepuram district in particular.

Apart from this, interview was conducted with noon-meal organizers and

verified the register and the actual number of children fed on the day of the visit. The

researcher also interacted with the villagers and mostly with women to gather varied

information. For this purpose structured schedules were used for interviewing school

teachers, children, parents, noon meal organizers, cooks and helpers. Discussions

were held with the Sarpanch, VEC members, voluntary women groups, etc. The

quality of food grains, storage facility, source of drinking water, place of cooking and

serving of Noon-Meal, the cleanliness of the utensils, etc. were keenly observed to

know whether school is maintaining hygiene at the time of cooking and distribution of

food. Informal discussion was also conducted with the public to gather information

regarding their awareness about MDMS.

For the above, the sample constituted total of around 170 respondents who

were interviewed with face to face. As mentioned earlier respondents were drawn

from four different schools, two from each in two blocks of Kancheepuram and

Sriperumbudur of Kancheepuram district. The break up of the sample respondents

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was: 96 children (24 from each school), 48 parents (12 from each school), 16 teachers

(4 from each school) and 8 organisers and cooks (2 from each school). The

respondents were chosen through random sampling.

Of the four schools, three were government schools and one government aided

schools. All the selected schools were upto 5th standard and all of them are having

enough number of classrooms. All the four schools visited have more than four

classrooms with proper infrastructural facilities. The total number of students as well

as teachers varied from school to school in the range of 204 to 309 and 4 to 10

respectively.

In the government aided school, MDM has been continuing since 1962,

whereas in other two schools (Panchayat Union Elementary School, Collector’s

Colony, Kancheepuram and Panchayat Union Elementary School, Sriperumbudur,

West), the programme started during 1982. In the fourth school, i.e. Panchayat Union

Elementary School, Sriperumbudur, South, none of the teachers were able to recollect

the starting of the MDMS. Therefore, it was understood that MDMS was in practice

since long.

3.7 Main Findings from the field

• In all the schools, cooked meals were served with different menus for different

days in a week.

• The children in all the schools were getting eggs twice in a week (Monday and

Wednesday), green gram and Bengal gram (on Tuesday and Thursday), on

Friday the children get potato and on Saturday general menu consisting of

sambar and rice.

• There is an overwhelming interest among the children and simultaneously

demand from the community for MDM. As a result, there is realization that a

meal is a necessity for every child. Even it is seen that children also get their

Sunday meals one day before.

• Most significantly all the schools visited have safe as well as piped water

supply. Getting potable water is not at all an issue in the state.

153

• None of the school teachers were involved in the cooking or for distribution.

All the schools have separate noon meal organiser supported by a cook and

one helper. Teachers are over all responsible for the scheme. They monitor the

scheme implementation but do not assist in cooking or distribution of food.

• The teachers mostly the head master or the assistant head master is entrusted

with the responsibility of supervision of the programme.

• None of the schools it was found that children are involved in the process of

cooking or other support activities. It symbolizes that all the schools we

visited have sufficient helper to cook the food.

• All the schools reported to have been receiving the MDM provisions and other

essential materials in time. All the schools we visited reported that they get

proper administrative co-operation starting from the food grain to the

infrastructural development. Everyone in Tamil Nadu feels that NMP is

successful due to the effective monitoring of the scheme by the officials at all

levels.

• The surveillance mechanism of the government is good as the schools reported

to have been regularly visited by the officials concerned with MDM for

quality check as well as for its implementation.

3.8 Perceptions of Varied Respondents on MDMS

Here we would like to present some of the perceptions of the respondents that

include children, parents, teachers, cooks and lastly, the perception that noon meal as

right perspective in the state has been presented. Figure – 3.1:

8%

92%

0%

yes no sometimes

% of children having mid-day meal of the total respondents

3.8.1 Children’s Response

During the survey it was

found that an overwhelming 92 per

cent school children (88 out of 96)

said that they were having MDM

in the school. Those who did not

take MDM were bringing their

food from home. It was also

observed that these children belonged to economically sound families compared to

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others in the school. It was also revealed that the parents of the remaining 8 per cent

children did not want them to have MDM at school.

Out of the total 88 respondents, who were having MDM in the school,

belonging to different castes and there was common sitting arrangements while

having the meal. It was found that there is no caste and class differentiation while

having food at the school. None of the respondents reported that there is objection

from parents or otherwise for sitting together during MDM. However, in one school it

was reported that the girls and boys are served meals separately due to the

convenience of the school as the school consists of large number of children and they

do not have enough space to have meals together. It is also revealed that 75 per cent

of the children bring their own plates from home for having MDM while the rest 25

per cent children are provided with plates by the school.

Table 3.11: Responses from the Children

Sl no Question asked Yes No Sometimes /

Can’t say

1 Do you eat MDM at school premises? 88 8 0

2 Do you participate in cooking MDM? 0 88 0

3 Do you sit together while eating MDM? 88 0 0

4 Do your parents asked not to eat MDM

in the school?

8 88 0

5 Do you like to eat MDM daily in the

school?

88 3 5

6 Do you have drinking water facility in

the school?

96 0 0

7 Have you ever checked up by the health

workers?

96 0 0

Source: Field survey: 2007.

While 92 per cent of the children would like to have MDM daily in the school,

3 per cent said they do not like to have MDM in the school. However, 5 per cent

children reported to have MDM sometimes and not daily. During the survey, the

155

children also revealed that apart from MDM they get different vaccines and they are

regularly checked up by the health workers. All most all the children expressed their

eagerness for the scheme as they felt that it is the place where they can sit together

and share their food with their friends which they don’t find in their home.

Most significantly it is also observed that majority of the children do not carry

food for their lunch as they are assured of a meal at school. Children are not involved

in the MDM process and do not like to take the food to their home. Hence, in all the

four schools visited revealed that the children are overwhelmingly happy with the

MDM and with the varied menu they get in the lunch.

3.8.2 Parents Response

Figure 3.2:

92%

8%

BPL Non BPL

% of respondents under BPL and Non-BPL category

Of the total 48 respondents from

parent category, majority of the

respondents, nearly 87 per cent do not

have a regular employment either in the

government or private sector. They are

mostly self employed and are either in

small business or in agriculture. An

overwhelming 46 respondents of the total

48, i.e. 96 per cent, said their children get

cooked MDM in the school every day except holidays. All of the respondents replied

that their children get adequate food through MDM. They are also aware that their

children are not asked to help in the MDM process while the cook and the helper cook

food and distribute among the children. Parents are happy with the scheme as their

children are provided with daily meals and do not go hungry. They felt that due to

MDMS they don’t have any tension for their children food and education. As majority

of them are economically poor, they don’t have enough capability to feed their

children and investing money for their education. So in this context all the

respondents (100 per cent) replied that the MDMS has protected many of their interest

as well as their children’s.

However, there is little apprehension among some of the parents whether

hygiene is maintained while cooking or serving the food. Of the total 48 respondents,

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39 respondents (81 per cent) said, hygiene is maintained while 9 respondents, (i.e. 19

per cent) are apprehensive of it. They suggest that, the cooking vessels should be

cleaned properly before cooking and also keep the kitchen and place of sitting clean.

All the respondents know that, the children of all castes/class are served MDM

together without any discrimination. The respondents felt that, the children of all

castes and class should take meal together and they do not have any objection for such

an arrangement. None of the parents reported that, their children were ever

discriminated at school while MDM is served.

None of the parents made any complaint that their children developed any

kind of health problem after eating MDM. Moreover; they felt that there is

improvement of health situations among their children. All the 48 respondents (100

per cent) agreed that, MDM has encouraged them to send their children to school,

thereby reducing the drop out rate while simultaneously reducing the child labour in

the area. Many parents even expressed that because of the MDM, they are sending

their girls for education instead asking them to do house hold work, managing small

children at home or fetching water and cooking, etc.

Table 3.12: Responses from the Parents

Sl no Question Asked Yes No Sometimes

/

Can’t Say

1 Did your child develop any

health problem after eating

MDM

0 46 0

2 Is there any health

improvement in the child

after eating MDM

46 0 0

3 Has MDM encouraged

people to send their children

to school

48 0 0

4 Has MDM reduced drop out

rate

48 0 0

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5 Is There decline in child

labour in the area

48 0 0

Source: Field survey: 2007.

All the respondents are aware that there is a Parent-Teacher Association

(PTA), which discusses about MDM during meetings and also monitor the

implementation of the scheme. The most noticeable response was the respondent’s

support for the continuation of the scheme in cooked MDM. Important benefits, if any

of, the MDM according to them were the nutritional development of the children,

educational advancements, and decrease in child labour and decline in drop out rate

among others. The parents also felt that, the MDM is good programme because their

children do not go hungry and get regular food. This also encourages the children to

go to school regularly and not for work and hence the twin goal of education as well

as nutrition is fulfilled.

3.8.3 Teachers Response

The third category of respondents was the school teachers numbering total 16

(4 from each school). Teachers were interviewed so as to elicit the information

regarding the quality of food provided, the official co-operation that they receive,

problems they face during the implementation, and its impact on overall teaching.

Regarding the menu for MDM, teachers do not have any deciding role; it comes from

the district officials. They have different menu for different days in a week which is

decided by the NMP centres. It was revealed that, however, at the school level it is

either the headmaster or the Parent Teacher Association (PTA), decides on the

vegetables that are available to be given to the children.

It was also revealed during the survey that, 38 per cent of the teachers (6) are

involved in the MDM process, while the rest 62 per cent (total 10 teachers) are not

involved in any capacity in the MDM process. Of the total six teachers involved in the

programme, majority of them, i.e. five has only supervisory responsibility. On the

other hand, one teacher was reported to have been assisting both in supervising as

well as cooking. This was an exceptional case because a couple of days before the

visit to the school, the cook had retired and a new one was yet to be appointed.

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While majority of the teacher (81 per cent) felt that, the quality of grain

received for MDM is of good quality, still there is apprehension regarding its quality

for some teachers (13 per cent). Moreover, it was also revealed that, in two schools

there was a temporary shed for cooking MDM (in one of the sample schools, kitchen

was under construction) while in the other two schools they have constructed kitchen.

Further, while two schools have separate store room for keeping provision, in two

other schools there was not enough space for storage of food grains as a result it was

stored in the classrooms. It was also reported that the officials concerned with NMP

inspect the MDM regularly (Monthly once).

Table 3.13: Responses from the Teachers

Sl no Question Asked Yes No Sometimes /

Can’t Say

1 Are you involved in MDM

process in the school level?

38 62 0

2 Do you decide the menu for

MDMS?

00 16 0

3 Do you cook for MDM? 00 16 0

4 Do you feel MDM disrupts

Teaching process?

00 16 0

5 Are you satisfied with the

infrastructural facility in your

school?

08 08 0

6 Do you have idea that when

MDMS started in your state?

04 05 07

7 Do you receive all support in

time?

16 00 00

8 Do officials monitor the

scheme regularly?

12 04 00

9 Do you feel that MDMS has

increased enrollment?

12 04 00

10 Do you feel that MDM can

fulfill child right to food?

16 00 00

Source: Field survey: 2007.

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However, at the school level, the monitoring of MDM is carried out by

different groups like Gram Panchayat, PTA, MTA, etc. While 25 per cent (4) teachers

said it is done by Gram Panchayat, other 25 per cent (4) said it is the Parent Teacher

Association which oversees the process, and the rest 50 per cent (8) teachers said it is

done by the teachers at the school level. None of the teachers felt that MDM in any

way disrupts teaching. About 75 per cent of the teachers agreed that there increase in

enrolment due to MDM while the same percentage of teacher felt there was decrease

in drop out rate due to the scheme. Majority of the teachers (75 per cent)

acknowledged that, the level of interest among the children towards studies have

increased due to MDM.

All the respondents felt that MDM is good and it provides children nutritious

meal. They also revealed that there is no opposition from any body to the MDM and

majority of the teachers (75 per cent) said they get timely co-operation from the

officials regarding the programme implementation rest of them do not involved in the

MDMS process.

3.8.4 Cooks Response

The last category of respondents was cooks and other MDMS organizers. A

total of eight (8) respondents (two from each school) were taken as they are directly

involved in all processes of the scheme at the school. Of the four schools three

schools have kitchen while one school does not have a kitchen and was under

construction. Food for MDM in this particular school is cooked at the nearby high

school while the cook and the helper carry the food for distribution in the elementary

school. All the four schools use firewood for cooking.

The cooks follow the headmaster instruction that he received from the

governments’ regarding the specific menu for the day. In all the cases, the cooks were

having one helper and one MDM organizer to oversee and for maintaining all records

relating to MDM. All the cooks and organisers interviewed felt that MDM must

continue as it gives the children a definite meal per day which they feel is very

important for the health improvement of the children.

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Table 3.14: Responses from the Cooks/Helpers

Sl no Question Asked Yes No Sometimes /

Can’t Say

1 Do you belong to reserved

caste?

08 00 00

2 Do you have separate kitchen

for the school?

07 01 00

3 Do you get assistance from

the school teachers?

08 00 00

4 Are you happy with the three

staffs for MDM?

08 00 00

5 Do you feel that MDM can

fulfill child right to food?

08 00 00

6 Do you get co-operation from

the officials when demand?

08 00 00

Source: Field survey: 2007.

3.9 Perception of MDM as A Right Tamil Nadu’s noon cum nutritious meal scheme is supposed to be the

country’s largest school feeding programme. The scheme was introduced in Tamil

Nadu (1982) long before the introduction of the national level MDM (1995). Till the

date, the state has covered largest number of beneficiaries while providing nutritious

noon meal to the school going children through the scheme. The government

introduced the scheme with two major objectives i.e., to provide adequate nutrition to

economically disadvantaged children to improve the health and nutrition status of the

children, to develop their mental and physical ability and to increase the enrollment in

the schools and reduce drop outs. In Tamil Nadu, the MDMS functions all throughout

the year. However, the government has also inspired the people who are involved in

the process in different ways so that they would take up the scheme whole heartedly.33

33 Organisers and helpers not only take their weekly holidays but also enjoy the designated state government holidays. Thus for example the children are treated to double meals/special meals to mark important occasions like Independence Day, Republic Day, Christmas, Deepavali, Pongal, Ramzan, Telugu New Year’s Day, etc. So as not to lose out on these ‘national holidays’, the organisers ensure that a special and extra meal is served on the day prior to a national holiday. For instance, the school remained closed on Christmas, but on the previous day, that is, the December 24, the children were

161

From the two broader objectives mentioned in the Tamil Nadu’s NMP is that

when the government of India decided to bring food security throughout the nation,

Tamil Nadu is the first state to move from a food secure state to a nutrition secure

state. There are well organised institutional arrangements to ensure one time nutritious

meal daily is made available to the children. The state government’s scheme is

distinct and unique in terms of their administrative set up and funding pattern which

one way or the other signify the state’s interest for protecting child right to nutritious

food as well as the education.

The most significant achievements that MDMS has brought in the state are

nutritional intakes of the children which have improved and many of the poor children

have been saved from malnutrition. The state government’s vigilant eye on the

implementation of the programme has been responsible for proper maintenance of the

record and variety of information like plans, reports, targets, compliance and so on.

To achieve success in the implementation of the scheme, the government has

involved various departments so as to bring changes in child health and education.

Though the right to an adequate means of livelihood is enshrined in the Constitution

(in Part IV, DPSP) requiring the state to strive to promote this right, Tamil Nadu is the

first state which has made a beginning by providing at least one meal for over 60 lakh

children in the state and providing employment for about 10,000 women.

Tamil Nadu’s NMP has brought awareness on food as a matter of right where

starting from the government to the public has contributed for the fulfillment of

children’s right to food. Even the political parties of the state has put MDM in their

agenda and promised to provide nutritious MDM to the school children.

Government’s initiative in relieving teachers from the overall process of MDM is a

significant step while appointing an organiser, a cook and a helper for smooth running

served a special kind of rice like tamarind rice, lemon rice, etc, at around 3.00-3.30 pm. This 3.30 pm meal is in addition to their regular meal at noon. It is called a double meals because it is an additional meal on a particular day; it is also referred to as a special meals since the menu is different from the usual meal which they partake everyday.

162

of the programme. The payment to the organiser, cook and the helper is highest as

compared to other states.

These are the above factors led to the successful functioning of the programme

with a major objective of fulfilling the children right to food.

Table 3.15: Perceptions of Respondents on MDM as a Right: Tamil Nadu

Total

Respondents

No of respondents

said Yes (and % of

the total)

No of respondents

said No (and % of the

total)

No

Idea

Parents 48 48 (100%) 0 0

Teachers 16 16 (100%) 0 0

Cook 8 8 (100%) 0 0

Source: Field survey, 2007.

Majority of the respondents opined that MDM is able to fulfill the food as well

as the educational right of the children. The major strength of the scheme particularly

in Tamil Nadu as has been pointed out by the respondents, are both the quality and

quantity factor. Of 48 respondents (parents) none showed dissatisfaction regarding the

scheme and also feel that MDM can fulfill the children’s right to food (right to

nutritious food). With the increase of awareness level among the public, the demand

for the scheme and its proper implementation has brought success of the scheme.

Majority of teachers felt that definitely MDM is a boon for the poor children who

come to school with a hope of getting a plate of meal in the school. The teachers feel

that MDM is an important means to keep the children in school while shaping their

future from the scourge of ignorance and vulnerability.

Out of 8 respondents (cooks and organisers), all of them viewed that their first

priority is to look after the nutrition aspect of MDM, providing importance to

maintenance of hygiene while preparing food and its distribution. They also feel that

mere giving a meal to children is not enough but the meal should be nutritious as it is

reaching a large segment of primary school children.

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3.10 Summing up Tamil Nadu is a pioneering state and the best example for the implementation

of MDM and the institutional set up has gained maturity over the time. The process

has been properly institutionalized with new and additional institutions established in

order to better facilitate the implementation. The concerns of the government and

state functionaries can be well estimated in terms of appointment of a full time noon-

meal organiser, who is only responsible for MDM, thereby not disturbing the teaching

and learning process. This signifies the government’s sensitiveness towards children,

children’s education and health in the state. There is also a vigilant public who are

working as a pressure group, there is also demand from the community, teachers have

interest (since they are not disturbed in the teaching process), and these all are

complemented by the government’s support (strong political commitment) to the

cause. Thus, from the community perspective, and from the government’s

perspective, MDM is not generally a simple food programme for the children but a

major state intervention for the growth of the children.

It was observed that the MDM in Tamil Nadu is a vivid example of what can

be achieved when quality safeguards are in place. Each school had a cooking shed and

a paid staff of three: an organizer, a cook, and a helper. All of them were women and

those who are appointed, priority had been given to their education. Over the years,

NMP being the most prestigious programme of the state government, has successfully

institutionalized by bringing together four major departments of the government with

the social welfare department acting as the nodal department. Moreover there is a

specific department at the district level which is dealing with the scheme only. The

scheme is also a large employer; particularly of women belong to backward class. It

has systematically appointed one organiser, one cook and one helper for the effective

functioning of the scheme which no other states in India have initiated. The financial

aspects of the scheme highlighted that the scheme is indeed financially sustainable as

it has been getting support from the state government as well as from the central

government and international donor agencies like World Bank and CARE.

Last but not the least, Tamil Nadu’s NMP has comparatively a successful case

in India. But the field experience has given an input that involvement of people in

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implementation of the scheme has made it a big success. Presence of a vibrant civil

society as well as public demand has made the Tamil Nadu government more active

and responsive in relation to the MDMS. Emphasis can also be given on the

competitive politics (competition between the two major political parties) which has

also made the scheme a success. But whatever the case may be Tamil Nadu NMP has

taught a different lesson which other states of the union must learn to implement the

scheme properly and to protect their children’s rights. The data collected on MDMS,

shows that it is the first state which has given popular emphasis on the scheme. On the

other hand, the Tamil Nadu government always kept four things in mind. Firstly, to

provide adequate nutrition to economically disadvantaged children secondly, to

improve the health and nutritional status of children thirdly, thirdly, to develop their

mental and physical ability and lastly, to increase the enrolment in schools and reduce

the dropouts.

However, when the present chapter deals with the various issues related to the

implementation of MDMS in Tamil Nadu, the next chapter discusses about the

MDMS in Orissa. From the above discussion, it is observed that Tamil Nadu is

comparatively a successful state regarding the implementation of MDMS. During the

field analysis, it is observed that there are different factors that made the scheme more

effective and vibrant as comparative to other states in India. Simultaneously to find

out causes for the lagging of the scheme in Orissa, a detailed field study was carried

out which is discussed in the next chapter.