Major Findings of Monitoring Institutes on implementation of the MDMS programme in Gujarat Prof. R. C. Patel Professor and Nodal Officer Department of Education [CASE] Faculty of Education and Psychology The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda Vadodara 390 002 Contact: (o) 0265 2784969/2795516/279263 (m) +91942795007 email: rcpatelsir@yahoo.co.in

Details of the Monitoring team visit Period of the report: 01.04.2014 to 30.09.2014 MI team visit details: The team of five Field Investigators visited the following districts Sr. No. District’s name Date of visit Number of schools visited 1 Banaskantha 21.07.2014 to 07.08.2014 32 schools +05 KGBVs +15 STPs 2 Kutchh 19.08.2014 to 06.09.2014 30 schools +06 KGBVs + 16 STPs 3 Bhavnagar 14.09.2014 to 29.09.2014 30 schools +06 KGBVs + 13 STPs SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019

Details of the Nodal Officer visit Period of the report: 01.04.2014 to 30.09.2014 Nodal Officer visit details Sr. No. District’s name Date of visit Number of schools visited 1 Banaskantha 03.12.2014 to 05.12.2014 07 Schools + 01 KGBV + STP 2 Kutchh 27.11.2014 to 28.11.2014 10 Schools + 02 KGBVs + STP 3 Bhavnagar 12.02.2015 to 13.02.2015 06 Schools + 01 KGBV + STP SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019

Major Findings SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019

1. Regularity in serving meal Achievements Out of 92 schools visited 88 schools (95.65%) served MDM in the school to the children. The time of serving food for every school is decided by the school. It varies from 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm. Sometimes the delay in serving the food occurs, which ranges from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. b. Actionable points In absence of MDM incharge the information regarding the MDMS at the school is not available. The school authorities must also be aware of the status of the MDMS in every aspect and the records must be available at the school itself. In cases when the MDM is not cooked at the school, some alternate arrangement must be made for the food to be provided to the children. SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019

2. Availability of Food Grains Achievements Out of 92 schools visited, in 56 schools (54.35%) buffer stock of food grains for a month was available. Out of the 92 schools visited, in only 08 schools (8.7%) the food grains is of FAQ of Grade A quality. In 85 schools (92.4%), the food grains were released after adjusting the unspent balance. b. Actionable points The schools should keep the buffer stock of food grains, to avoid any kind of interruption in the MDM to be cooked. Quality of food grains issued should meet the necessary standards in every school. SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019

3. Timely release of Funds Achievements Out of the 92 schools visited, 80 schools (86.9%) reported that the state is releasing funds to the District/block/school on regular basis in advance. b. Actionable points All the schools should receive the funds on time. There has to a check on the appropriate/optimum utilisation of the funds released from the State for the benefit of the MDMS at the schools SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019

4. Availability of Cooking Cost Achievements Out of the 92 schools visited, 75 schools/implementing agency (81.52%) received the cooking cost in advance regularly. The mode of payment of the cooking cost was e-transfer in most of the schools visited. In absence of cooking cost either the MDM in charge pays for the commodities or the MDM is not cooked at all. b. Actionable points Every school/implementing agency should receive the cooking cost in advance. The school authorities should be aware of the unavailability of the cooking cost and alternate arrangements should be predecided. SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019

5. Availability of cook-cum-helper Achievements Cook cum helpers were available in all the schools (except two where the Centralised Kitchen was applicable). In only 14 schools (15.55%) the number of Cooks cum helpers was as per the GOI norms. b. Actionable points Adequate number of cook cum helper must be employed in every school to ensure the quality of service to be provided under the MDMS for the children of the school. Remuneration to the cooks must be paid regularly. SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019

6. Quality and Quantity of Meal The quality of food provided was stated to be - Good in 21.11%, - fair in 73.33% and poor in 5.55% The quantity of food provided was stated to be - Inadequate in 31.11%, -adequate in 66.67% and excess in 3.33% The use of pulses in the meal was stated to be adequate in 52.2% schools. The use of green leafy vegetables was stated to be adequate in 35.5% schools. Double fortified salt was used in 82.2% schools SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019

7. Variety of Menu The school had a menu available in 88.9% schools. The weekly menu was displayed at a prominent place in only 48.9% schools. The menu was followed uniformly in 52.2% schools. The menu included locally available ingredients in 66.6% schools. The menu provides required nutritional and calorific value per child in 68.9% schools. SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019

8. Display of Information under RTE Quantity and date of food grains received is displayed in none of the schools visited. Balance quantity of food grains utilized during the month is displayed in none of the schools visited. Number of children availing MDM is displayed in none of the schools visited. Daily menu is displayed in none of the schools visited. MDM logo is displayed in 82.6% of schools. MDM logo is displayed in a prominent place preferably outside wall of school in 81.5% schools. SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019

Number of children in school 9(a). Trends Attribute Number of children in school Previous Day Day one Day two Enrolment 32555 Attendance in Record 26521 25114 23599 Head count - 23270 21588 Availing MDM as per record 14383 12919 11355 Actually availing MDM (head count) 9679 12657 SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019

9(b). Trends SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019

10. Infrastructure A pucca kitchen shed – cum – store is available in 87.7% schools. The MDM is cooked using – - Only firewood in 15.5% schools, - only LPG in 38.9% schools and both fire wood and LPG are used in 43.3% schools. In 21.1% of the schools it was stated that there was interruption in the fuel supply for cooking MDM. The cooking utensils were available in 91.1% schools. The eating plates were available in 84.4% schools. The children brought their own plates in the schools where the eating plates were not available. SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019

11. Safety and Hygiene General impression of safety related to MDMS was stated to be - Good in 18.8%, - fair in 57.8% and –poor in 12.2% schools General impression of hygiene related to MDMS was stated to be - good in 20.0%,- fair in 52.2% and – poor in 14.4 % schools The children were encouraged to wash hands before and after meals in 73.3% schools. The cooking process and storage of fuel was safe, not posing any fire hazard in 85.5% schools. SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019

12. Inspection and Supervision In 54.4% of the schools an inspection register was available. In 75.5% of the schools it was reported that the State/district/block level officers came for inspection of MDMS. The frequency of the inspection visits ranged from once in a two weeks to once in a year. SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019

13. Impact 83.3% schools reported that the MDM has improved the enrolment, attendance and retention of the children in school. 86.6% schools reported that MDM has helped in improvement of social harmony. 80.0% schools reported that MDM has helped in the nutritional status of the children. 41.1% schools reported of having incidental benefit due to serving of meal in schools. SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019

14. Grievance Redressal Mechanism Some grievance redressal mechnism for MDMS was available in 72.2% schools visited. The existence of toll free number was not reported in any of the schools visited. SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019

Thank you SSA RTE 2013 - 2015 [State: Gujarat] 1/18/2019