A video of a primary school has come to light where children are seen eating plain rice served with salt. There are no vegetables or pulses on the plate. While this food is being served, the meal mentioned on the menu is completely different.
On the one hand, Students of this Ayodhya school are served plain rice with salt, and on the other, the display plate contains items like paneer, puri, apple, milkshake, ice cream and rasgulla which were prepared for the children on the occasion of the festival by the principal of a government school in Jalaun by spending money from his own pocket.
In similar incident students of a school in Mirzapur, UP was served salt bread. The UP Police had registered a case against the journalist who made the video. This video came in 2019, but even after three years, neither the menu of the mid-day meal has changed nor the attitude of the system and governments.
Board of the Ministry of Human Resource Development data: State-wise
In December 2018, the Program Approval Board of the Ministry of Human Resource Development reported that about half of the children in the country do not get mid-day meals. Uttar Pradesh comes first among the large states that fail to provide mid-day meals to children.
- About 43 percent of school children in UP do not get mid-day meals.
- In Bihar about 40 percent of the children do not get mid-day meals in schools.
- 39 percent of the Jharkhand children here are deprived of the right to a mid-day meal.
- In Madhya Pradesh 29 percent of children about 26 percent of children in Rajasthan are not given mid-day meals.
What is the mid-day-meal?
The mid-day meal scheme was launched in 1995, with the aim not only to save the students of poor families from starvation but also to give them the right to nutritious food.
Under the mid-day-meal scheme, students between the age group of six to fourteen years, studying in classes one to eight should be provided cooked food with nutritional standards of 450 calories and 12 grams of protein, while for children from classes VI to VIII, 700 calories and 20 grams of protein.
