Shocking realities when poor parents are unable to send their children to school because of poverty.
The government of India introduced a scheme in all government elementary schools to provide children with cooked lunch namely midday meals. The Midday Meal Scheme is an integral part of the holistic development of the child in the early years of growth. Tamil Nadu was the first state in India to introduce this scheme. Sourashtra Boys Higher Secondary School in Madurai was the first school which had the scheme in 1925.
On 28th November 2001, the Supreme Court asked all state governments to begin this programme in their schools within 6 months and has shown many positive effects. Parents who couldn’t send their children to school due to poverty were eager to get their child-free nutritious food this way which results in an increased number of school-going children thereon. Mothers who used to earlier stop their work to feed their children at home, no longer need to do so now.
The Centre has rebranded the 26-year-old national, midday meal scheme to give a hot cooked meal to 11.8 crore government school students from Classes 1 to 8,
The Mid-Day Meal Programme has been running for 21 years, providing hot, nutritious meals to children at over 19,500 government schools across India. This is the primary source of sustenance for a large percentage of children and acts as an incentive for them to continue their education. Every day, children receive a wholesome midday meal at school, which protects them from hunger and the long-term effects of malnutrition
It’s even more critical now that children make up for the nourishment they’ve lost in recent months as a result of the pandemic.