Sector Scheme Level: National

Mid-Day Meal Scheme

The National Programme of Mid-Day Meals in School (MDM) scheme is Government of India’s (GoI’s) flagship school-based feeding programme aimed at improving the nutritional status of students and promoting the universalisation of elementary education.

Using government data, this brief reports on trends for MDM performance along the following parameters:

■ Overall trends in allocations, releases and expenditures;

■ Expenditure performance on key MDM components such as food grains, cooking costs, honorarium to cook- cum-helper (CCH), traveling assistance and monitoring, management and evaluation;

■ Progress on construction of kitchen-cum-stores, and;

■ Coverage as indicated through the provision of meals to students.

School Management Committees

Section 21 of the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 (RTE), mandates the formation of School Management Committees (SMCs) in all elementary government, government-aided schools and special category schools in the country. The RTE Act envisions an SMC as the basic unit of a decentralised model of governance with active involvement of parents in the school’s functioning. This policy brief highlights the successes, challenges and opportunities in the functioning of School Management Committees as envisioned in the RTE Act.