Question : Review of Mid Day Meal Scheme

(a) whether the Government has reviewed the Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) in the country recently and if so, the details thereof;

(b) the details of the number of the schools and children in the country included in MDMS during the last three years, State-wise/UT-wise/district-wise including Uttar Pradesh;
(c) the details of funds allocated and used under MDMS during the said period State-wise/district-wise;
(d) whether the enrollment rate in schools increased after the launching of the said scheme;
(e) if so, the details of the increased rate registered in Uttar Pradesh during said period, gender-wise;
(f) whether any alleged irregularities including misuse of foodgrains, poor quality food served have been received;
(g) if so, the details thereof alongwith the action taken against the people responsible for the same; and
(h) the other corrective steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard?

MINISTER OF EDUCATION

(SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL ‘NISHANK’)

(a): As per the extant policy, all Ministries / Departments have been asked to undertake an outcome review of their ongoing Schemes at the end of 12th Five Year Plan for appraisal and further continuation. Accordingly, the Government reviewed the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) in 2018-19. The details of revisions/modifications in the scheme are given at Annexure-I.

(b): The State and UT-wise details of children enrolled and number of institutions covered including Uttar Pradesh under the scheme during the last three years are given at Annexure-II.

(c): The State and UT-wise details of funds allocated and utilized under the scheme during the last three years are given at Annexure-III.


(d) & (e): The MDM Scheme was launched by the Government of India in 1995 and since then there has been a huge increase in the enrolment in schools which could be due to mid-day meal to some extent. There is a marginal decline in the enrolment in government schools over last 2-3 years. While no specific reason can be attributed for this, it may be presumed that the cleaning of data by States and UTs is largely responsible.

(f) to (h): A total number of 41 complaints on irregularities including misuse of foodgrains and poor quality food served under the scheme were reported from various States and Union Territories during the last three years. Respective State Governments and UT Administrations were requested to furnish Action Taken Report (ATR) in the matter. As per ATRs received from States and UTs, action such as issuing warning against the official responsible, terminating the contract of concerned NGOs/Organisations, initiating criminal proceedings and imposing penalties against the defaulting persons/organisations have been taken by the concerned State Governments and UT Administrations.

The overall responsibility for providing cooked and nutritious Mid Day Meal to the eligible children lies with State Governments and UTs Administrations. Further, for effective implementation of the Scheme, the Government of India has also issued guidelines on quality, safety and hygiene to all the States and UTs. These guidelines, inter-alia, provide for instructions to schools to procure Agmark quality and branded items for preparation of mid day meals, tasting of meals by 2-3 adult members of School Management Committee including at least one teacher before serving to children and to put in place a system of testing of food samples by accredited laboratories. Further, the MDM Rules, 2015 provide for mandatory testing of food samples by Government recognized laboratories to ensure that the meals meet nutritional standards and quality. The Government has also adopted an elaborate monitoring mechanism at Central, State and District levels to ensure quality food is served to children under the Scheme.

The State and UT-wise details of these complaints and action taken thereon during each of the last three years are given at Annexure-IV.

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