Mid-day Meal Programme in India (Paragraph, Class-XI)

Mid-day Meal Programme in India

Mid-day Meal Programme in India

Midday meal programme of the govt. started with the noble objective of encouraging children to come back to high school and improve their nutritional status .but reports of the recent death of 23 children in Bihar and other incidents of the negligence in cooking the midday meal has produced an alarming effect on the minds of the parents.

The midday meal provided in the school is a great stride taken by our government to implement its “Education to All” Act. Since the poor people could not afford education to their children, not to say of providing foods, the government had aptly combined both the advantages to the poor. The midday meal scheme is gaining great success in many states in India. At the same time, it is also contributing to the rise in literacy rate among the poor. The availability of food at least once a day has made the poor parents send their children happily to school. Also, the meal provided is so planned to give minimum daily required nutrition, thus improving the health of these poor children.

But recent reports about the death of children in a Bihar school after consuming the midday meal has proved to be a big setback in the government’s effort. It has proved to be a deterrent as the incident and many other similar shocks, across the country, have risen, fear and doubts among us about the safety of the midday meal. Even the parents have started thinking twice before sending their children to school to avoid the free meal. The incidents show the negligence on the part of the schools and those involved in preparing the meal. Providing roof in the kitchen, preparing and storing food in well-cleaned vessels and keeping the surroundings clean should be focused upon.