Mid Day Meal Programme Observations Period 1st April to 30th September 2011

Districts covered under study Jalna (4 – 14 July 2011) Buldana (18-27 July 2011) Akola (2-12 August 2011) Washim (16-27 August 2011) The MI Monitored 157 schools and 3 KGBVs in these 4 districts.

Regularity in Serving Meal Interruption in providing cooked meal was found in 59 schools (36.87%). The reason for interruption was delay in supply of food grains including rice, pulses and condiments supplied by agency appointed by the state. Most of schools (90%) reported that food grains had been supplied as per the marked weight. Except 2 schools (Z.P.P.S Hasanabad Jalna and Z.P.P.S Wadala Akola) the food grains were delivered at the door step of school. Quality of food grains was found to be good in all schools.

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Trends All children enrolled in the school have opted for Mid day Meal and there is no variation between the number of children availing the MDM as per MDM register and the no of children actually availing MDM on the day of visit.

Cooking cost None of the schools received cooking cost regularly. It is received after gap of 3-4 months and the same is paid through bank in all schools.

Social Equity No discrimination of any kind was observed in any school. In most of the schools the children were used to stand in queue and take the meals then they sat at school verandah or open shady place in groups.

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Menu The state has given 4 different menu to all districts suggesting them to select one of it for their district. The authority to select the menu was given to the committee constituted under the chairmanship of the district CEO. A variety in the food preparation as given in prescribed menu was found. A weekly menu was not displayed at place noticeable to community in 86 schools (54.78%)

Quality of food In 94 schools (59.87%) quality of food was found to be good. In 5 schools (3.18%) quality of food was found to be poor.

Supplementary Food Health cards have been maintained in all schools. The state has supplied micronutrient supplementation IFA syrup to the I to V class children and IFA capsule to VI to VIII class children. The annual health checkup was found to be conducted in all schools.

Status of Cook According to the new norms cook and helper were appointed in most of the schools (92%). They have opened their bank account. None of the schools had paid remuneration to cook /helper regularly.

Social composition of the cook/ helpers Cooks and helpers appointed by the SMCs are mostly from the underprivileged sections of the society. Heath checkup of the cook and helper is neglected in all schools.

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Infrastructure Out of 157 schools, pucca kitchen shed was available in 68 schools(43.31%). Where kitchen shed was not available, the food was cooked in school verandha in 17 schools (10.82%), spare classroom in 44 schools(28.02%) and open yard in 19 schools (12.10%).

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Continued… Mostly kitchen sheds are constructed under SSA,MDM and Manav Vikas Mission. In 8 schools (5.09%) kitchen shed was constructed but it was not in use and the reason was inadequate space. The kitchen sheds constructed under various schemes are very small in size. Its size is appropriate only for the schools having primary classes and enrolment below 100 children

Continued… The size of the kitchen shed should be reconsidered with respect to the strength of the school. Lack of storage space in large no of schools Food grains were stored in the classroom in 86 schools (54.78%) and in the HMs office in 17 schools (10.83%).

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Continued… 82.80% of the schools have potable water for cooking and drinking. 86% of the schools have adequate utensils. 87.90% of the schools are using firewood as fuel. LPG is used only 12.10% schools. Poor condition of safety and hygiene was observed in 26.75% schools. In all schools children are encouraged to wash their hands before and after eating food.

Community Participation and Awareness In very few schools (26%) the SMCs, parents were supervising and monitoring the MDM scheme. Frequency of such supervision was found to be inadequate. The main reason: Most of the parents are farmers or farm workers and cannot spare time due to their work

Continued… The overall participation of community to improve the quality and variety in preparation was found to be poor in all schools No roster was maintained in most of schools by the community members for supervision of MDM. Teachers were not found to be keen about such thing.

Continued… Very few parents, community members were aware about the quantity of meal per child and the entitlement of quantity and types of nutrients in MDM per child as prescribed in the menu. Orientation of parents and community needs to be taken care of.

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Inspection MDM is inspected regularly either by the school teacher, headmasters and CRC coordinators The most common remark by CRCC and Block level visiting officers: “According to the menu mid-day meal was prepared and served” No specific suggestions were made regarding the preparation and its quality.

Impact All schools reported that the MDM had helped to improve the attendance. The health record (weight, height etc.) registers provided by State which may indicate the improvement in wellbeing of children and nutritional status is not maintained by the any of the schools. Inspecting authority need to take serious note about this matter.

Thanks …