The document summarizes India's Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDM), the largest school meal program in the world. It provides free lunches to over 120 million children in government and government-aided schools. Due to school closures from COVID-19, many states are now delivering MDM rations or cooked meals to students' homes to ensure they continue receiving nutrition. The objectives of MDM are to improve child nutrition, encourage school attendance, and provide meals during summer vacations for disadvantaged children in drought-affected areas.

1. GENERAL LAW
ASSIGNMENT-2
ABHISHEK SHARMA, B.Ed.
EMAIL ID: as0858223@gmail.com

3. MID DAY MEAL SCHEME (MDM)
The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal programme of the
Government of India designed to improve the nutritional status of
school-age children nationwide. The program supplies free lunches
on working days for children in Primary and Upper Primary Classes in
Government, Government Aided Associations. Serving 120,000,000
children in over 1,265,000 schools and Education Guarantee Scheme
centers, it is the largest such programme in the world.

4. HISTORY
• Existed in India since 1960’s.
• In 1995, Government of India implemented it as the National
Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education.
• Many states provided only “dry rations” until 2001.
• Cooked meals were only provided in Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu
and parts of Madhya Pradesh and Orissa. M G Ramachandran
extended midday meals to all primary schools in India.

5. A Typical Menu of Mid day meal Scheme

6. The objectives of MDM as issued by the
government:
1. Improving the nutritional status of children in classes I-V in
Government, Local Body and Government aided schools.
2. Encouraging children, belonging to disadvantaged sections, to
attend school more regularly and help them concentrate on
classroom activities.
3. Providing nutritional support to children of primary stage in
drought affected areas during summer vacation.

7. Impact of Covid-19 on Mid day Meal Scheme
In India about 358.33 lakh children in the age group of 3-6 years are benefitted
through the Mid-Day Meal scheme, according to the Annual Report 2018-19
published by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development. Schools and
colleges have shut down due to the spread of COVID -19 disease in India as well.
320 million children around the world are missing out on school meals due to
school closures because of Covid-19, the World Food Programme has stated in a
press release dated March 23, 2020.
The children who were receiving food through the school meal programme, were
mostly from poor families and the shutdown of schools had left them in a dire
situation.
“This pandemic is having a devastating effect on school children around the
world, particularly in developing countries,” like India, “For children from
vulnerable households, their only proper meal is the one they get at school. We
can shift to online learning, but not online eating. For many of these children,
school meals are their only nutritious meal during the day.

8. Measures Taken by Different States
• Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced that all
government school students who used to have mid-day meals at
school, will now get their packed mid-day meals at their
doorsteps.
• Cooked food needed to be made available to a much larger
section of people including destitute, homeless and migrants
through multiple mechanisms.
. In Kerala, the state government is delivering free mid-day meals
to children at their home.

9. The Ministry of Human Resource Development is set to ask all states to make arrangements of
either delivering food grains or cooked meals to the homes of the beneficiaries, or depositing
money in their parents’ accounts, until such time as schools remain shut.
Along with Delhi and Kerala , Govt. of others states are also taking initiatives like
#Haryana has ordered teachers to deliver mid-day meal rations and cooking costs to eligible
students in 17 Districts of the State. This sparked protests by teachers who pointed out that
people are encouraged to stay at home to avoid any spread of the virus. The distribution will
consist of sealed packets of 770gm wheat and 630gm rice to primary students (each) and
1,155gm wheat and 945gm rice to upper primary students.
#Maharashtra is considering to provide MDMs only to rural children.
#Punjab seems to consider to either provide mid-day meals to students at homes or,
alternatively, putting money into their accounts.
#Jammu and Kashmir: according to news reports from Doda District, dry rations are distributed
to doorsteps of students

10. THANK YOU