Lok Sabha Question No. 88 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-04-25
Subject: MidDay Meal Scheme
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: DEVAJIBHAI GOVINDBHAI FATEPARA, MUKESH RAJPUT, PINAKI MISRA, UDAY PRATAP SINGH, LALLU SINGH, SANKAR PRASAD DATTA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.88 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25.04.2016

## Mid Day Meal Scheme

## 88. SHRI DEVAJIBHAI G. FATEPARA:

SHRI MUKESH RAJPUT:

SHRI PINAKI MISRA:

SHRI UDAY PRATAP SINGH:

SHRI LALLU SINGH:

SHRI SANKAR PRASAD DATTA:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to convert the MidDay Meal Scheme (MDMS) from mere entitlement to Rights of the children and if so, the details thereof along with the time by which it is likely to be implemented;
- (b) whether the Government proposes any new MDM Scheme and if so, the salient features thereof;
- (c) the number of complaints reported with regard to irregularities like contaminated food, under  nutritious  food etc. along  with the reports of casualties received by  the Government during the last three years, State/UT/year-wise
- (d) the details of amount per head sanctioned by the Government for providing food under MDM Scheme and its adequacy to ensure healthy and nutritious food to children; and
- (e) the  remedial  measures  taken/proposed  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  for  providing quality of food to students and check irregularities in the said scheme?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

- (a): The  Ministry  has  notified  Mid  Day  Meal  Rules  2015  under  Section  39  (1)  of  the National  Food  Security  Act  2013.  These  statutory  rules  mandate  that  hot  cooked  mid day meals in the schools shall be provided to all students studying in classes I to VIII who enroll and attend the school free of charge  every day except on school holidays. The rules  also  provide  for  Food  Security  Allowance  to  be  paid  to  children  in  case  of failure to provide meals for specified reasons.
- (b): There is no such proposal in the Ministry.
- (c): The State-wise and year-wise number of complaints received is given at Annexure-I .
- (d): The  MDM  Guidelines  provide  for  serving  a  wholesome  and  nutritious  meal  which should have 450 calories and 12 gram of protein for children of primary schools and 700 calories  and  20  gram  of  protein  for  upper  primary  schools.  The  cooking  cost  (which includes cost of pulses, vegetables, oil & fat, condiments and fuel) per child per day for primary stage is Rs. 3.86 and Rs. 5.78 for upper primary stage since 1 st July, 2015 when it was enhanced by 7.5%. Besides this, foodgrains @ 100 grams for children of primary schools and 150 grams for upper primary schools are also provided to the States. Many States / UTs are contributing additional funds from their resources towards cooking cost besides providing additional food items like egg, banana etc. to the children.
- (e): The Government of India has issued updated guidelines on quality, safety and hygiene on school level kitchens to all the States / UTs on 13 th February, 2015. These guidelines inter alia provide for instruction to schools to procure Agmark quality and branded items for preparation of mid day meals, tasting of meals by 2-3 adults members including at least  one  teacher  before  serving  to  children  and  to  put  in  place  a  system  of  testing  of food  samples  by  accredited  laboratories.  Further,  the  MDM  Rules  2015  provide  for mandatory  testing  of  food  samples  on  a  monthly  basis  by  Government  recognized laboratories to ensure that the meals meet with nutritional standards and quality. Besides the above, the Guidelines also envisage monitoring of 25% of the schools on quarterly basis by the officials of the States / UTs. In addition, the States / UTs have established Grievance Redressal Mechanism at various levels in their States with a toll free number for addressing the grievances of stakeholders.

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## Annexure-I

Annexure referred to in reply part (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 88 for 25.04.2016 by  SHRI DEVAJIBHAI G. FATEPARA, SHRIMUKESH RAJPUT, SHRI PINAKI MISRA, SHRI UDAY PRATAP SINGH, SHRI LALLU SINGH and  SANKAR PRASAD DATTA regarding MID DAY MEAL SCHEME

## State-wise and year wise number of complaints under Mid Day Meal Scheme

| Sl. No.   | State/UT          | Misappropriation   | Misappropriation   | Misappropriation   | Misappropriation   | Poor Quality   | Poor Quality   | Poor Quality   | Poor Quality   | Irregularities   | Irregularities   | Irregularities   | Irregularities   | Castism   | Castism   | Castism   | Castism   | Total   |
|-----------|-------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|---------|
| Sl. No.   | State/UT          | 2013               | 2014               | 2015               | 2016               | 2013           | 2014           | 2015           | 2016           | 2013             | 2014             | 2015             | 2016             | 2013      | 2014      | 2015      | 2016      | Total   |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh    |                    | 1                  |                    |                    |                | 2              |                | 1              |                  |                  | 2                |                  |           |           |           |           | 6       |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh |                    |                    | 1                  |                    |                |                |                |                |                  |                  |                  |                  |           |           |           |           | 1       |
| 3         | A&NIslands        |                    |                    |                    |                    |                | 1              |                |                |                  |                  |                  |                  |           |           |           |           | 1       |
| 4         | Assam             |                    | 1                  |                    |                    |                |                | 1              |                | 1 3              | 3                |                  | 3                |           |           |           |           | 12      |
| 5         | Bihar             | 3                  | 10 4               | 3                  | 5                  |                | 9              | 7              | 1              | 2                | 1                | 2                | 2                |           |           |           |           | 49      |
| 6         | Chandigarh        |                    |                    |                    |                    |                |                | 1              |                |                  |                  |                  |                  |           |           |           |           | 1       |
| 7         | Chhattisgarh      |                    |                    |                    |                    | 1              | 3              | 1              |                |                  |                  |                  | 3                |           |           |           |           | 8       |
| 8         | Delhi             |                    | 2                  | 1                  |                    | 1              | 2              | 6              |                |                  |                  | 1                |                  |           |           |           |           | 13      |
| 9         | Gujarat           |                    |                    |                    |                    |                | 1              | 1              |                |                  |                  |                  |                  | 1         |           |           |           | 3       |
| 10        | Goa               |                    |                    |                    |                    |                |                | 1              |                | 1                |                  |                  |                  |           |           |           |           | 2       |
| 11        | Haryana           | 2                  | 3                  | 2                  | 1                  |                | 1              |                | 1              | 2                |                  |                  |                  |           |           |           |           | 12      |
| 12        | Himachal Pradesh  |                    |                    |                    |                    |                |                | 1              |                |                  |                  |                  |                  |           |           |           |           | 1       |
| 13        | Jharkhand         | 2                  | 2                  |                    | 1                  |                | 3              | 2              |                |                  |                  | 5                | 1                |           |           |           |           | 16      |
| 14        | Karnataka         |                    |                    |                    | 1                  | 3              |                |                |                |                  |                  | 1                |                  | 1         | 1         |           |           | 7       |
| 15        | Kerala            |                    |                    |                    |                    |                |                |                |                | 1                |                  |                  |                  |           |           |           |           | 1       |
| 16        | Madhya Pradesh    | 2                  | 1                  | 1                  |                    |                | 3              | 3              |                | 1                |                  | 1                |                  | 1         |           |           | 1         | 14      |
| 17        | Maharashtra       |                    |                    | 1                  | 1                  |                | 2              | 5              | 2              | 3                |                  |                  |                  |           |           |           |           | 14      |
| 18        | Odisha            | 1                  |                    |                    | 1                  | 3              | 4              | 3              | 1              |                  |                  |                  |                  |           |           |           |           | 13      |
| 19        | Punjab            | 1                  | 2                  |                    |                    |                |                |                |                |                  | 1                |                  |                  |           |           |           |           | 4       |
| 20        | Rajasthan         |                    | 1                  | 1                  | 1                  | 2              |                |                |                |                  |                  | 1                |                  |           |           | 1         |           | 7       |
| 21        | Tamil Nadu        |                    |                    |                    |                    | 1              |                |                |                |                  |                  |                  |                  |           |           |           |           | 1       |
| 22        | Telangana         | -                  | - -                |                    | -                  | 1              |                |                |                |                  |                  |                  |                  |           |           | 1         |           | 2       |
| 23        | Tripura           |                    |                    |                    |                    |                |                | 1              |                |                  |                  |                  |                  |           |           |           |           | 1       |
| 24        | Uttarakhand       | 2 1                | 1                  |                    |                    |                |                |                |                |                  | 1                |                  |                  |           |           |           |           | 5       |
| 25        | Uttar Pradesh     | 3                  | 10 11              |                    | 5                  | 1              | 6              | 14             | 1              | 5                | 4                | 3                | 8                |           |           |           |           | 71      |
| 26        | West Bengal       | 1                  | 2                  | 3                  | 2                  | 1              |                | 1              | 1              | 2                |                  | 1                | 1                |           |           |           |           | 15 280  |
|           | Total             | 17                 | 34                 | 28                 | 13                 | 18             | 41             | 48             | 7              | 16               | 13               | 20               | 18               | 2         | 1         | 3         | 1         |         |