From the BBC:
“Mid-day meal plan struggles
to feed India's hungry students”
(The mid-day meals are
distributed under a massive government scheme)
India's mid-day meal scheme, the
world's most ambitious free school feeding programme, resumed in April after a
two-year hiatus during the pandemic. But re-starting the scheme is proving to
be a challenge for many schools, reports Astha Rajvanshi. With the closure of
schools, millions of children who relied on free meals went hungry during the
pandemic. In January, Alfisha returned to Shankarwadi Mumbai Public School two
years after the Covid pandemic forced schools across India to shut down. The
13-year-old was excited to reunite with her friends and teachers, but most of
all, she looked forward to lunchtime when she could finally eat a free, hot
meal. "My mother is sick, so she can't always make lunch for me and my
siblings," she said.
Malnutrition is rising across
India - why? But the meals, which are distributed under a massive
government scheme, didn't resume until early April, leaving Alfisha hungry and
disappointed for another two months. "I felt very sad because my
friends and I used to eat lunch together," she said, describing their
pre-pandemic ritual of sprinkling cumin powder over the bowls of 'khichdi,' or
rice and lentils, that were usually served and shared among the girls. During
the lockdown, Alfisha began skipping lunch at home. Now, she finds it difficult
to concentrate in class, especially during her favourite subject, science. Bishow
Parajuli, who directs the United Nation's World Food Program in India, says the
reason is simple: "A hungry child cannot pay attention to Maths or English
or Science or anything."
The mid-day meal scheme, which
first began in the southern city of Chennai (Madras) in 1925, has been
instrumental in feeding nearly 118 million Indian children like Alfisha.
Renamed PM Poshan last year, it covered more than 87% of students enrolled in
government schools across the country before the pandemic. Lauded by educators
and economists, the scheme has not only ensured positive nutritional outcomes
by eliminating hunger and malnourishment, but also by keeping children -
especially girls and those from disadvantaged backgrounds - in school. "I've
seen kids gulp down the hot meals in a flash," said Mr Parajuli. "The
impact they have on their hunger, alertness, and potential learning cannot be
overstated."
But re-implementing the scheme
after a long hiatus is proving to be challenging in many schools. In rural
areas, many face delays in the delivery of raw materials like grains and
lentils used to cook the meals while schools in the cities are yet to sign
contracts with centralised kitchens that cater for the children. In March,
Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the main opposition Congress party, urged the
government to restart the scheme, noting that the pandemic has affected
children. "As children are returning to schools, they need even better
nutrition," she told parliament.
Last year, the Global Hunger
Index ranked India at 101 out of 116 countries, well below neighbouring
Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan, as well as poorer and more politically
volatile countries like Cameroon and Tanzania in Sub-Saharan Africa. The
National Family Health Survey, conducted from 2019 to 2021, found that
one-third of all Indian children under the age of five were stunted and
underweight, with little to no improvement in child nutrition levels since the
previous survey was conducted in 2015-2016. In some states - notably, the
economically advanced Maharashtra in the west and Kerala in the south - the
proportion of underweight and student children even increased. Global food
security experts attribute this acute malnutrition to widespread poverty,
endemic hunger, rapid population growth, pockets of weak governance and poor
health systems. But the pandemic has increased these vulnerabilities,
particularly in rural and slum settlements, where access to services and
opportunities for employment is scarce. To plug the gap in government
provisions, many NGOs and self-help groups are stepping in to distribute the
meals themselves, often leading to mixed, uneven results.
At Shankarwadi in Mumbai, for
example, some students receive free meals through the 'Teach for India'
programme, which partners with government schools across Maharashtra through
private investment. Others rely on their teachers to buy them lunch. Irfan
Anjum, a government school teacher who has taught at the school for over 12
years, says mid-day meals are "a present from god" for his students. In
his class of 26, at least eight to 10 students don't bring lunch from home
daily or carry any money to buy food. "These kids come from very
impoverished backgrounds," he explained. "So many of them go hungry
when the meals aren't distributed." Since the school reopened, often the
49-year-old teacher has bought samosas or sweets for his class from the local
vendor. "The children start crying when they can't bear the hunger any
longer," he said. "I feel like it's my duty to feed them." Mr
Parajuli said the challenges can only be solved when the federal government
works with state governments to make sure the meals reach the children
regularly and in time. “There needs to be some hand-holding," he said.
(School girls receive a free
mid-day meal at a government school in Nagaon, Assam)
What sets India's mid-day meal
scheme apart from other countries is that it is governed by the Food Security
Act: "The law enforces that children are fed as part of the school
environment," Mr Parajuli said. Under the law, not only does the Indian
government put aside funding for the scheme, it also ensures that those funds
are used to feed children through programmes like the Public Distribution
System and Integrated Child Development Services. "That's a great
thing," says Mr Parajuli, because it means that "children can eat,
families can have some [economic] relief, and the government can achieve
positive results in child development". With the scheme slowly resuming,
both teachers and parents want to ensure that their children return to school -
and eat. Shahanoor Ansari, who lives in a slum settlement in Mumbai's
Jogeshwari area, struggled to feed her family when the lockdown wiped her
husband's monthly income as a carpenter. "We were getting by on fistfuls
of rice," said the 33-year-old during a parent-teacher meeting. Ms Ansari
finally sighed with relief when schools re-opened in January and meals resumed
in April. "I was only worried about feeding them before," she said.
"But now, I can once again hope that they will become doctors one
day."
^ This is extremely sad to see.
No child anywhere in the world should go hungry. ^
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