Mid-Day Meal
With a view to enhancing enrolment and attendance and simultaneously improving nutritional levels among children - the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDM) was started in Uttarpara in 2005. The program; supplies free lunches on working days for children in primary and upper primary classes in government, government aided, local body and Child With Special Need (CWSN) schools, supported under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, controlled by the School Education Department. The program has been taken up throughout India under the orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.
The world’s largest school feeding program is reaching out to about 10745 children in 62 schools across Uttarpara Municipality jurisdiction. Over 180 Cook-cum-Helpers are working in various eligible schools under Cooked Mid-Day Meal Program(CMDM).
The Chairman is the Nodal Officer of CMDM for this Municipality. The District Magistrate and SDO are mainly responsible for implementation of the scheme. Similarly, DI, ADI and SI of Schools are responsible for day to day monitoring of the school. All Schools under UKM are entrusted to submit their up-to-date Report (Annual, Monthly and Health) within a specific time to Uttarpara Municipality, Mid-day Meal Section for analysing and better implementation of the scheme. The effective implementation is possible for this public utility scheme is, only by positive feelings of teachers, parents and respective personnel.
Objectives of the Program:
The key objectives of the Program are:
- Mid day meal has assure of a free lunch every day for their children helped the poor families that, engulfed in poverty, hunger and starvation.
- It aims to address “classroom hunger” and encourage poor children, belonging to disadvantaged sections, to attend school regularly and help them concentrate on classroom activities.
- School feeding program serve as a very effective mechanism for strengthening the socialisation process. It helps to break the caste and class barriers.
- This program has created a very congenial atmosphere for education, health growth and overall well-being of the poor and needy children.
- The Scheme has created various good habits in children, such as washing one’s hands before and after eating, use of clean water , good hygiene etc.
- Mid-day meal Scheme also generate employment to poor families as Cook-cum-Helper, Rice suppliers and distributors etc.
| Sl No | Type of Schools | Number of Schools | No. of Students enjoying Mid-day Meal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Primary: (include 4 Nos. CWSN, 2 Nos. Local Body Schools) | 40 | 4563 |
| 2. | Upper Primary: (include Govt., Govt. Aided & CWSN Schools) | 22 | 6182 |
| Yearly consumption in Rice-distributed to schools | Yearly expenditure in Cooking Cost | Yearly expenditure in Remuneration to Cook |
|---|---|---|
| Above 221 Metric Ton | above120 Lakhs | Above 27 Lakhs |
Coverage under Rastriya Bal Siksha Karyakram (School Health Program)
The mid-day meal program is a multi-faceted program of the Government of India that also include RBSK that launched in 2013, under National Rural Health Mission, aims at early detection and management of Deficiency conditions and Developmental Delays including Disabilities. The RBSK team visited at least 10 eligible schools in each quarter for health check-up of the children.
The Union Minister for Human Resource Development launched a comprehensive website: www.mdm.nic.in for creating greater awareness about the scheme to ensure transparency in the implementation of the scheme.
