PLATFORM - Striking hunger

 S.B. Misra The mid-day meal scheme has succeeded in bringing poor children
to school. But the scheme has become an end in itself and there are no signs
of these children learning anything in the classroom


C HILDREN IN India, who should be in school, instead work on farms, graze
cattle and are employed for domestic work. The attractive new buildings and
educational equipment arranged under Operation Blackboard with assistance
from the World Bank and other agencies did not bring the deprived children
under the school roof. Thereafter, the government devised initiatives like
the 'charwaha vidyalaya', where children can bring their cattle to school,
and the midday meal scheme. The mid-day meal scheme, in particular, has
succeeded in bringing children to school - they may forget to bring their
books but do not forget to bring their plates.

But if the scheme was conceived to give impetus to the mission of universal
education and care for all children, surely it should not be confined to the
students of government schools? There is no justification why a meal cannot
be provided to the children of aided and government-recognised schools as
well. Students in these schools are also part of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
The scheme, as it stands today, is discriminatory. But that is not what ails
its purpose. The scheme may have succeeded, but have the children learnt
anything?

The government provides mon ey to a village panchayat under the mid-day meal
scheme. The pradhan of the panchayat allocates the funds and makes necessary
arrangements for its utilisation. Teachers of the school play no direct role
and have no control over its implementation. But, as and when required, they
bring any related problems to the notice of the education department.
Sadly, in most cases, the pradhans are musclemen. Teachers are mere jobbers
and do not dare to complain about anything. Children who even partially
benefit cannot complain to anyone - for most of them, even crumbs make a
difference. But now that the supervisory role has been assigned to the
Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), let us hope that things will
improve.

To cook the meals, a cook/sevika is appointed by the pradhan. She is charged
with the distribution of food among students and maintaining hygiene. She is
answerable to the pradhan alone. She is paid Rs 40 a day for a student base
of up to 100; Rs 58 for meals for more than 100 children.
But, in the villages, the emphasis is on meals, not on education.
Expenditure on the scheme is calculated on a six-day plan with a changing
menu. However, if the pradhan is absent on a particular day or it is a
school holiday, there is a net saving that goes, apparently, into somebody's
pocket. Rajiv Gandhi had said that only 15 paise of every rupee reaches the
beneficiary. No agency has worked on any estimations on the actual utility
of the mid-day meal fund. State Education Minister Kiran Pal Singh, earlier
this month, admitted that the mid-day meal scheme is not properly
implemented, and sought the setting up of a task force to monitor its
implementation.

The government has modified the menu to be served from Monday to Saturday
and has increased the allocation of money from Re 1 per child to Rs 2 per
child per day, along with a detailed calculation on protein content, energy
content and item-wise expenditure.
The estimates are a bit of a joke and not based on any ground reality. After
all, 25 g dal costs about Re 1 and not 50 paise as estimated. Similarly, 14
g ghee would cost nearer to Rs 2.10 rather than the 70 paise allocated. It
is not clear which dry fruits the State intends to provide children that
will cost 10 paise per child. The callousness is evident.

The scheme has certainly attracted students from families below the poverty
line. In most other cases, parental priorities are otherwise defined. They
prefer quality education over mid-day meals. Meals are, understandably, a
secondary consideration for the uneducated but not poverty-stricken parents.
But the State must remember that the purpose of education is empowerment. A
mid-day meal is not an end but only a means to bring children to school,
where they may be taught the most basic of math and language skills. Yet,
sadly, that is amiss. The meal or any other facility would have relevance
only if the standard of education is also maintained.

It should be a matter of concern that the freebies - free text books, no
fees, free school uniforms, midday meal, scholarships and so on, have
singularly failed to inspire the first-generation or poor parent to send
their children to State-run schools. They prefer private schools where most
of these facilities are unavailable. The reason is obvious: government
primary schools have one or two teachers for as many as 200 or more children
and the teachers are also supposed to organise vaccinations, perform census
count, electoral roll preparation, tree count, cattle count, and give or
take training. On top of it all, urban residents have been posted as
teachers in faraway rural schools, and they have their own ways of
performing duty. Untrained Shiksha Mitras were supposed to be appointed and
controlled by the panchayats on annual basis, but they have organised
themselves at the state level like other employees. God save primary
education.

The writer runs Bharatiya Gramin Vidyalaya, a partially government-aided
school in Kunaura, UP

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