Centre may revise mid-day meals’ daily cooking cost
New Delhi: The daily cost of cooking midday meals in schools across India is likely to be raised by the central government once a panel reviewing the matter submits its report, people familiar with the development said.
The committee, established by the education ministry last year to review the cooking cost of midday meals and chalk out a formula and methodology for their revision, is in the final stages of compiling its report, they said. The members of the panel include officials from ministries of education, finance and labour, besides independent experts.
“The committee report has almost reached the conclusive stage,” an official familiar with the development said, requesting anonymity. “It is expected to meet in the coming days to officially finalise the cooking cost before it is sent for approval to the finance ministry.”
The cost of cooking the midday meal was last revised in 2020. It was increased from ₹4.48 to ₹4.97 per student per school day for primary classes between 1 and 5, and ₹6.71 to ₹7.45 for upper primary classes
between 6 and 8.
“As per norms, the cost should be revised every year. But due to the pandemic, the revision could not happen last year,” the official said. “Therefore, it is likely that this time the cost may increase by ₹0.5 to ₹1.5.”
Under the midday meal programme, now known as PM-POSHAN, the cost of cooking gets the largest allocation among all components, including the prices of ingredients such as cereals, pulses, vegetables, cooking oil and other condiments. The Centre shares the cost with states and Union territories in a 60:40 ratio and contributes 100% in Union territories without a legislature. The scheme covers at least 118 million students enroled in classes 1-8 across 1.1 million schools. The scheme also covers pre-primary students.
In the recently held meeting of the programme approval board of midday meals, some states including Andhra Pradesh demanded a raise in the cooking cost, a second official said, declining to be named.
The revision is happening at a time when school officials of some states, including West Bengal, have raised concerns over the impact of food inflation on the midday meal programme.
“It is very important to revise the cooking cost of the midday meal at a time when the price of almost everything has increased,” said Apurva Handa, principal of a government school in West Bengal. “We can’t continue with the 2020 cooking cost in 2022,”
The government should first map the vulnerability of children before taking any decision regarding the revision of cooking cost, said Sonal Kapoor, founder chief executive of Protsahan India Foundation, a Delhi-based child rights non-profit working specifically for girls.
“Policy revisions of midday meal costs should be deeply based on the understanding of how far back the nutrition levels of children have been pushed (specifically protein, vitamins and minerals) during the pandemic, leading to severe dietary shocks in children, especially menstruating adolescent girls,” Kapoor said.