Mid Day Meals (MDM)

A school child enjoying his school meal. Jharkhand 2009.

Painting the weekly MDM menu on the school wall works as a low cost transparency measure, allowing the community and children to monitor proper implementation. Jharkhand 2009.

Children washing their hands and plates after eating. Jharkhand 2009.

Teacher absenteeism remains an issue in primary schools. Jharkhand 2010.

In some parts of Jharkhand, the CRPF had taken over school premises and converted them into a temporary camp, in spite of a Supreme Court order that forbids it. Jharkhand 2011.

MDM cook serving the school meal – on the menu – dal, rice and baingan.

A simple innovation to make the classroom interesting for children. Chhattisgarh, 2009.

Free bicycles are a popular scheme with many state governments. These are meant to discourage girls from dropping out after class 8. Chhattisgarh.

A school kitchen with black gram ready to be served. Karnataka 2016.

Children seated in a queue and enjoying their school meal. Karnataka 2016.

School kitchens are generally simple, but functional and hygienic. Karnataka.

Eggs are not on the MDM menu in Karnataka. When asked “if you want eggs, raise your hand”, this is was the response. Karnataka.

Another basic, clean and functional kitchen with the cook and helper, covering their head to maintain hygiene in the kitchen. Karnataka 2014.

Nandhini powered milk is supplied to all schools for the MDM. In some schools, the cooks said that they sometimes use it to make curd, because children do not like the taste of powered milk. Karnataka 2014.

Hot sambar, ready to be served, by the cheerful cook. Karnataka 2014.

Adequate and secure storage space is essential to the successful implementation of the MDM scheme. Karnataka 2014.

The MDM scheme provides an opportunity to inculcate good hygiene habits in different ways. Here, some good practices are painted on a school wall. Odisha 2014.

Tamil Nadu is a pioneer in the MDM scheme. Another noteworthy aspect of the MDM in TN is that eggs are served each day of the week along with the school meal. Tamil Nadu 2016.

Getting ready to cook the meal: dal, beans, potatoes and eggs. Tamil Nadu 2016.

School meals can play a vital role in breaking down social barriers of caste and gender. Here, two children are seen sharing a meal. Tamil Nadu 2016.

Such joyful faces make all the hard work associated with running the MDM scheme worthwhile. Tamil Nadu 2016.

Painting the weekly menu on school walls was an important transparency measure to ensure that children were served what they were supposed to get.

Students enjoying their MDM together during lunch break. Himachal Pradesh, 2012.

Cook and helper in their kitchen in Himachal Pradesh, 2012.

The cook serves a student some rice cooked in milk. MDM menus across the country, even in better performing states need to be improved. One reason is that per child per allocations are very low (Rs. 6-7/day). Another reason is corruption. Himachal Pradesh 2012.