“The proposal was sent to the union government in March this year, but we haven’t heard from them for the last three months. The union government has always insisted on including millets to increase the nutritional value and marking 2023 as the international year of millets,” a state government official told the Express.

However, the state government says that as of June 9, there was “no response to the proposal”. Mid-day meals are mandatorily provided by state governments to schoolchildren to improve their nutrition. Mid-day meal schemes also encourage attendance and prevent drop outs. Eggs were piloted in Karnataka’s mid-day meals in eight districts in 2021. Earlier attempts to do this had faced opposition from religious groups. A majority of children studying in government-run and government-aided schools in Karnataka are from Dalit, Adivasi, OBC and religious minority communities and consume eggs at home.

A report in the Hindustan Times states that an egg in mid-day meals pilot project improved students’ nutrition and the Union government has extended the provision of eggs in these districts till May next year. As for sprouts, the school education department wants to use them to decrease levels of anemia in children.

“Milk is not entirely protein. So we want to introduce sprouts, which are high in protein and can help fight anaemia and malnutrition among children. We still have to work out the cost of introducing sprouts because we have to procure them in the open market at competitive prices,” the Express report quoted a government official as saying.

Eggs in mid-day meals were piloted in eight Karnataka districts in 2021 and have been extended till May next year. The state’s school education department has sought the serving of eggs on more days of the academic year.

December 2021

One section of the powerful Lingayat community had, in December 2021 objected to eggs in the mid-day meals diet in the state.  Demanding that the state government to serve a “pure vegetarian” school meal, for children in government schools, this went against the cultural habits of a vast section of children who are not just egg eaters but come from non-vegetarian homes. At the time, Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh told the media that the decision to include boiled eggs in the mid-day meal scheme was based on “surveys and reports from the Centre that indicated malnourishment persisting among children. We also had inputs from experts that egg was the best-known single source of protein. This led to its inclusion in the mid-day meal scheme to help children combat malnutrition.” However, according to a report in The Indian Express the minister has added that the government is “exploring other options to provide protein-rich food to children as an alternative to egg.” He added that eggs “were not being forced”. Children who did not want eggs “were provided boiled bananas as a substitute.”

It was then that Anjali, a 14-year-old Karnataka schoolgirl challenges ‘upper caste’ leaders: It took a 14-year-old Karnataka schoolgirl’s speech directed at the powerful Hindu leaders opposing boiled eggs in midday meals to refuel the conversation. The video clip of Anjali, a Class VIII student of MNM Government Girls School at Gangavati in Koppal district, has now gone viral. She questions the seers on why they want to deprive poor children of the only access they have to eggs, “Don’t we pay obeisance to you after eating eggs and taking a bath? Don’t we offer cash to your maths? Why are you eating with our money? You throw away that money, or give it back to us. We will eat (food).”

Related:

Why does the Karnataka government not want children to eat eggs at mid day meals?

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Bengaluru: More than 38.37 lakh students of primary and high school students chose eggs as their protein source in their mid-day meal amid the “Satvik” food controversy, as per the data given by the education department.

After the circular released by the Commissioner of Education Department of Karnataka, opinion was sought from the students on whether they want egg, peanut bar or banana as the protein source in their mid-day meals.

The opinion was taken from the students in the different zones, where almost 80 per cent of students demanded eggs in their meals.

Around 38.37 lakh students are studying in Classes 1 to 8 in Karnataka, among whom almost 80 per cent of students demanded eggs. Other 2.27 lakh students asked the government to provide peanut bars and Bananas, according to the survey of Education Department.

Students mainly in the Belagavi division followed by Bengaluru and Kalburgi along with the Mysore division chose eggs for their meals to fulfil their nutrition demands especially when there is a discussion about “Satvik” food in schools.

Courtesy: The Daily Siasat

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Lucknow: Midday meal workers in Uttar Pradesh (UP), who earn Rs 2,000 per month, say they have not been paid their meagre wages for the last six months. Even though various organisations, including the Midday Federation of India, have repeatedly written to the State government requesting them to release their wages, it has not yielded any results. Teachers have taken the matter into their own hands and started paying them from their own pockets.

Over 3,77,520 cooks, engaged in preparing food under the mid-day meal scheme (Mid Day Meal Authority, Uttar Pradesh) in around 2.85 lakh state government-run primary schools are awaiting a monthly honorarium of Rs 2,000 for the last six months.

Veena Gupta, secretary of the All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers (AIFAWH) told NewsClick, “Cooks in Uttar Pradesh have not been paid since March. The last payment they received was Rs 1,500 per month. Later, the honorarium was increased by Rs 500. But so far, most of the cooks in the state have not received the revised payment. Teachers are somehow persuading them to continue with their services by shelling out money from their own pockets.”

Laxmi, an old widow, and a cook at a primary school in the Basti district told NewsClick,

“I am a single parent and I have an unmarried daughter and an unemployed son to look after. For the last six months, I have not received any payment. I have decided to stop working in the school and find a maid’s job.” 

Last year in December, the Uttar Pradesh government decided to increase the honorarium of part-time instructors and cooks posted in the state’s Basic Education Department. However, the government approved the proposal in May, almost five months later. The decision was taken in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

“Rasoiya does not get paid for May and June due to the closure of school during summer vacation; June and July passed in waiting. When they stopped coming to school to cook the meal, we intervened and gave some amount from our own pocket. After a long wait, the government issued a grant for one month. Rs 1.30 crore grant has been received for

6,500 cooks posted in 2,482 schools of Bareilly, while the need is Rs 3.90 crore,” Mukesh Singh Chauhan, district president of Prathamik Shikshak Sangh told NewsClick.

Of the 3.77 lakh cook-cum-helpers, 90% are women, mostly single women and widows who have been solely dependent on their monthly honorarium.

“For almost 68 students, I am the lone cook in my school. Whenever I ask the school principal, he says the grant has not been released by the government. I have a family of four who are dependent on my salary. The situation we have been going through only we can understand. I am sincerely looking for a job where I can be paid on time at least,” Renu, a cook in Ballia, told NewsClick, adding that even domestic helpers and cooks get around Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000

salary or even more. The government must think about their meagre salaries and that too on time.

Hundreds of Midday meal workers and helpers took to the streets and staged sit-in protests at different district headquarters of Uttar Pradesh in December as a part of the nationwide protests under the banner of the Midday Federation of India.

They submitted a memorandum, demanding an increase in the honorarium of the workers from Rs 2,000 per month to Rs 15,000 per month, an increase in the retirement age of cooks and helpers from 60 years to 65 years and providing retirement benefits.

“For the past few years, teachers, and principals have been pooling funds from their pocket. Now, even they are helpless in contributing funds,” Sanjeev Pandey, a school principal in Gorakhpur, told NewsClick.

NewsClick has reported earlier that government schools in Uttar Pradesh have reportedly not received any money for mid-day meals for the last few months, preventing some schools from serving food to children under the scheme. In a few schools, teachers and gram pradhan (village head) have been spending from their own pockets or buying rations on credit to feed the children. The Education Department has attributed the delay in payment to the non-release of funds by the Finance Department.

Meanwhile, the Federation is gearing up for another fresh protest in Lucknow next week where cooks from across the state will gather to raise their demands.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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In a shocking development for the nutrition of children and the human development index in general, the Maharashtra government has unilaterally cut supplies of cooking oil, pulses or vegetables to the state’s schools, the Swati Gole of the Times of Indian reports. The result? The much needed midday meal scheme across the state has been floundering for the past few weeks with no cooking oil, pulses or vegetables to cook the ‘khichdi’ that is served to school students in both rural and urban areas. The only thing supplied to schools has been raw foodgrains Neither has the funds been disbursed to enable schools to make purchases. 

So far, in some schools, principals are spending on ingredients from their own pockets because they do not want the children to suffer. Shockingly, other schools have not even received their supply of food grain. When contacted by TOI, state government officials said that funds would soon be released for the scheme. According to the state education director Mahesh Palkar, “the Union government recently disbursed the first instalment of Rs 400 crore to the state. The state government will allocate the amount to the education department, which in turn will disburse the amount to schools and kitchen contractors. The process would take another fortnight.”

According to data put out by TOI, 80 lakh students 79,000 rural schools in the state and 20 lakh students in 7,500 schools in urban areas benefit from the midday meal scheme totally. 

Meanwhile, kitchen contractors and women self-help groups that provide cooked meals to schools have written to the state government to speed up the reimbursement process, but have been told to wait. Rajesh Gaikwad, who manages a centralised kitchen in Pune, said, “We are managing from our own pockets. The system is to reimburse us for the raw material. The reimbursements have been pending since March. ” Most students in rural areas rely on the meals provided by schools, which help curb malnutrition. Teachers said the meals convince parents to send their children to school.

Mahendra Ganpule, a senior official of the principals’ association in Maharashtra, said, “When kitchen contractors go to the government for reimbursements, the officers threaten to terminate their contracts. Fear of losing the contracts makes them continue with their funding. ” The government recently told all kitchen contractors and schools to fill up information in the online system about how many children ate daily and quantity of meals cooked every day. A manager at a centralised kitchen shed in Bhor taluka said the online system does not work because it is not possible to share data in the system every day. “We are able to feed the data on some days but on other days the system is either down or we are unable to give inputs due to the workload,” he added. 

Two months ago, in August 2022, another circular issued by the Directorate of School Education (Primary), made it mandatory for the schools to have a mandatory Aadhar card to avail of the midday meal scheme, the deadline for this being November.

Educators and teachers across the state took exception to this policy decision, stating to the Indian Express that, “This is inappropriate and not in line with the Right To Education (RTE) act. Moreover, there is no such clause by the Centre which runs the policy,” adding, “Putting such a condition is going to have an impact.”

It was in July 2022 that the Directorate of School Education (Primary) issued orders to local education department offices of all districts. According to the order, schools have to submit updated data of Aadhar card registration of their students at the end of every month until November 2022. The aim is to collate the data before December 2022 which is the deadline to complete Aadhaar registration. According to teachers, the other government schemes at schools are likely to follow the same diktat. 

Exasperated teachers also pointed out that work does not end at registration of Aadhaar, “It has to be verified too,” said Mahendra Ganpule, from Maharashtra State Headmasters’ Association. He explained, “A child may have an Aadhaar card but it has to be verified on details such as name, birth-date, gender. If these details, on Aadhaar and in school enrolment do not match, the said Aadhaar registration is not considered valid. Now these are technical details, and there could be various reasons which may have led to a mistake. It is not right to decide if a child can be served a midday meal or not based on these technicalities, especially when it has been a driving factor for many parents to enrol their children to schools.” 

According to state-wide data shared by Ganpule, accessed by the Indian Express, out of 1,89,94,363 students with Aadhaar enrolment, only 89,29,525 have valid Aadhaar count. And out of total student enrolment count of 2,24,50,469 across the state, Aadhaar details of 34,56,106 students are yet not available. 

Other teachers were quoted by the newspaper like Vijay Kombe, a Zilla Parishad School teacher from Wardha district who is also the secretary of Maharashtra State Primary Teachers’ Association, said, “These technical mistakes are rampant in rural areas. Most parents won’t even know how to spell a name in English. Many times, illiterate parents have to depend on the operator to fill in the correct information. Many students in tribal belts don’t have an Aadhaar card.” 

However, the directorate was unyielding on its stand. Director of Education (Primary) Dinkar Temkar, who looks after the midday meal scheme in Maharashtra, said, “There is no Aadhaar mandate for school admissions. But in order to avail the facilities, students will need to have valid Aadhaar registration. There have been instances in the past when schools have forged the data of student count. The verification process for valid Aadhaar registration is important to ensure that the given 12-digits is a correct Aadhaar card number and is not repeated in any other school.”

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Midday Meal cooks struggling to put food on their own tables in UP

Mid-day meal-related food poisoning cases at 6 year peak: CAG

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Lucknow: In yet another shocker from Uttar Pradesh, students of a government primary school in Faizabad, now Ayodhya district of Uttar Pradesh, are being served salt and rice under the mid-day meal scheme.

Recall that last September, the Narendra Modi government had renamed the mid-day meal (MDM) scheme as ‘PM Poshan’. The aim was to focus more on a child’s nutritional levels rather than just providing a meal. However, the situation doesn’t seem to have improved in a year.

As the primary school in Pandey Ka Purva of Bikapur block is close to a village, several students collect their lunch and go home during lunch break. That’s how some parents got to know about boiled rice-salt being served in mid-day meals. Several parents protested against the school, after which  officials from the education department were asked to investigate the whole matter and conduct surprise inspections from time to time.

As per the menu of the mid-day meal scheme prescribed by the UP government, children are supposed to be provided rice, pulses and green vegetables. Milk and fruits are also included in the meal chart on certain days. 

Payal, a student at the school told NewsClick: “This was not the first time we had salt with rice in our lunch due to lack of vegetables or dal.”

Santosh, a daily wage labourer, whose two children are enrolled in the same primary school, told NewsClick: “Since the school is five minutes walking distance from our village, most of the children bring the lunch served in school home and they go back after lunch. We were upset after seeing our children having rice without vegetables, instead only salt was served. We had complained earlier to the principal but she turned a deaf ear.

After video of this travesty went viral on social media, the  district authorities called it ‘a serious lapse’ and initiated an inquiry into the incident. The school principal has been suspended.

Ayodhya District Magistrate Nitish Kumar, however, blamed the school management. “As per the orders by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the menu of mid-day meals across the districts is fixed. They are also given fruits and milk on some days. But these incidents happen due to the lapse of principal and supervisory staff,” Kumar told NewsClick.

“We have suspended the principal Ekta Yadav and  assistant teacher Gayatri Devi and an investigation has been launched in the matter. It is true that the students got just plain rice and were forced to eat that with salt for lack of vegetables. This is a serious lapse,” he added.

This is not the first time that children in Ayodhya’s primary school have got this kind of meal that they were entitled to. And it is unlikely that the Ayodhya school is the only one in Uttar Pradesh where this has happened.

Three weeks ago, children were reportedly served plain rice under the mid-day meal in Deoria district. Several children have complained that they were not even getting the “sub-standard meals” for months.

In 2019, the Uttar Pradesh government booked a journalist for exposing corruption in the mid-day meal scheme after he came across students being served roti and salt in Mirzapur district.

Ironically, the Uttar Pradesh police booked the journalist, alleging that he was “hatching a conspiracy to defame the government.” Later, he was cleared by the UP police.

However, teachers claimed that the MDM scheme launched to provide nutritious food to the students studying in the government primary school was running on credit. Teachers are saving their jobs by buying vegetables, pulses, oil, spices, milk, fruits etc. from their own pockets as they have not received the conversion cost since the past six months.

NewsClick has earlier written on the crisis, the teachers and , principal have been facing in Uttar Pradesh due to lack of funds.

NewsClick also spoke with multiple rasoiya (cooks) in different districts to understand the ground reality of the MDM scheme. All of them alleged that they were not getting vegetables and pulses to cook. “We have been getting Rs 1,000 per month, less than what a daily wage labourer gets, and all the blame comes on us when food quality is found bad or salt-rice is served. We have not received our monthly honorarium for the past six-seven months, but who cares?”

It may be mentioned that the Central government has not made an increment in the conversion cost under the National Programme of Mid-Day Meals in Schools (NP-MDMS) since 2020. The revised rate of the cooking cost for the primary stage (class 1 to 5) is Rs 4.97 per child, and Rs 7.45 for upper primary (class 6 to 8), which was revised in 2018. 

In the past two and half years, not a single penny has been hiked even though the inflation rate has increased significantly. The cost of the items used in mid-day meals has increased from two-fold to three-fold.

“It doesn’t matter if you change the scheme’s name to PM Poshan from MDM, because until you don’t increase the conversion cost and ensure timely payment, how long we will arrange for food from our own pocket,”  a teacher told NewsClick.

According to the government data disclosed in the Lok Sabha on November 25, 2019, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of corruption cases in the midday meal scheme. Out of the total 52 complaints filed in the past three years, 14 were from UP with Bihar inching closer with 11 complaints.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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Lucknow: Government schools in Uttar Pradesh have reportedly not received any money for mid-day meals for the last three months, preventing some schools from serving food to children under the scheme. In a few schools, teachers and gram pradhan (village head) have been spending from their own pockets or buying rations on credit to feed the children. The Education Department has attributed the delay in payment to the non-release of funds by the Finance Department.

After getting a supply of wheat and rice from food procurement agencies, the schools typically receive compensation for the cooking costs at the rate of Rs 4.97 per student for primary classes and Rs 7.45 for upper primary classes from the state government. The amount is provided to procure ingredients such as pulses, vegetables, oil, salt, spices, turmeric and LPG. The amount of mid-day meals provided to the schools is according to the number of students. Under the national programme, 60% of the cooking cost is shared by the Centre and 40% by the state.

Ajay Singh, a teacher in a Sitapur district school alleged that the government has diverted the funds meant for the midday meal scheme towards some other activity. He claimed that over Rs 2.3 crore meant for the scheme in his district were knowingly diverted by the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state towards other work. 

“The Yogi government has been snatching food from children’s mouths and spending money on its image building,” a teacher said on the condition of anonymity. Teachers say they are buying food because the people who send their children to school are very poor. In Gonda district alone, the bills have piled up to Rs 2.7 crore.

In 412 schools in the Ghazipur district, a total of 34,7117 students are served meals under the scheme. The outstanding dues of these schools for the cooking costs are over Rs 2 crore in the district.

The village head of Ghazipur’s Rajapur, Ashwani Rai, said that they have not received funds after the month of March for providing mid-day meals at his school. Due to this, all the food is being prepared for the children by taking loans from shopkeepers. However, he said that the Education Department has started streamlining things and the funds would be released to the schools in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the Education Department has attributed the delay in payment to the non-release of the funds by the state Finance Department. Sources in the School Education Department said the bills were submitted to the Finance Department in the last month itself, but the funds had not been released so far.

“This is not just a matter of one or two districts, but the situation is similar in all the government-run schools as every time the budget comes very late from the state. Funds for ingredients have been due for the past several months,” Virendra Mishra, national spokesperson of Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh (RSM), a national-level outfit of primary school teachers told NewsClick, adding that teachers were spending money from their pocket for the children. 

When asked then how the schools manage to provide mid-day meals to the children, Mishra who is also a headmaster at a primary school in Gauriya Diha in the Gonda district, said, “The village head provides the mid-day meal ration from his own pocket or picking up rations on credit. But in most of the schools, the headmasters manage from their salary or collect funds from teachers as most of the children belong to marginalised backgrounds. We can not send them back empty stomach,” he told NewsClick, adding that he draws money from his own salary to provide food to around 217 bonafide students enrolled in his school.

“On average, if 150 children are coming to the school, it cost around Rs 750 to Rs 800 per day for the midday meals. We have been forced to run the scheme from our own pockets, as Basic Education Department threatens to take disciplinary action against us if the scheme stop,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, the parents of school-going kids said the authorities concerned should be more particular about the matter so that nutritious food can be provided to their wards and teachers didn’t have to be inconvenienced.

NO INCREASE IN CONVERSION COST AFTER 2020

The midday meal scheme was started in 2001 by the central government to enhance enrolment, retention, and attendance in government primary schools and simultaneously improve the nutritional status of the children. Under the scheme, a student from any government or government-aided primary school is to be served a meal with a minimum content of 300 calories of energy and 8-12 grams of protein a day for a minimum of 200 days.

It must be mentioned that the central government has not made an increment in the conversion cost under the National Program of Mid-Day Meal in Schools (NP-MDMS) since 2020. The revised rate of the cooking cost for the primary stage (class 1 to 5) is Rs 4.97 per child, and Rs 7.45 for upper primary (class 6 to 8), which was revised in 2018. 

On July 22, Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh wrote a letter to the BJP MP from Dhaurahra and the party vice-president, Rekha Arun Verma, to increase the conversion cost of MDM since inflation has skyrocketed and prices of edible oil, and LGP manifold. 

From September 1, 2004, to August 15, 2016, the conversion cost was Rs 1 per student at the primary level and from October 1, 2007, to June 30, 2008, the conversion cost was Rs 2.50 per student at the upper primary level. After this, the conversion cost was increased almost every year relative to inflation. But from July 1, 2016, till December 15, 2018, conversion cost was not least increased not per inflation, the letter reads.

At last, the conversion cost was increased by the government on July 1, 2020, to Rs 4.97 per student at the primary level and Rs 7.45 per student at the upper primary level. In the last two and half years, not a single penny has increased even though the inflation rate has increased significantly over the last two years. The cost of the items used in mid-day meals has increased from two-fold to three-fold. For example, the cost of mustard oil, which was earlier Rs.70 to Rs.80 per kg, has now gone up to Rs.180 per kg. Similarly, the price of the gas cylinder has increased from Rs.600 to around Rs.1050, that for soybean has increased from Rs 50 per kg to Rs 110 per kg.

“Rs 4.97 is given per student for six days for food in which we have to give 150 ml milk every Wednesday to each student. If we split the milk cost, Rs 3.57 would be left for the food per student. Since the inflation is so high, edible oil, vegetables, milk, LPG and other ingredients being used for cooking food are expensive. How would we manage all this in just Rs 3.57?” questioned Santosh Maurya, in-charge headmaster of a government school in Chikwanpurwa under Ishanagar block in Lakhimpur Kheri distrcit.

Courtesy: Newsclick

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The powerful religious leaders of the influential Lingayat community of Karnataka want the state government to serve a “pure vegetarian” school meal, for children in government schools. Most of the children however, say they want the boiled eggs they now get three times a week in seven districts of the state. These kids are the ‘lucky ones’ to even get that bit of ‘extra’ nutrition. However the egg on offer to poor under-nutritioned kids, seems to have offended religious leaders of various Hindu sects in the state. So much so that, the Karnataka government has reportedly begun to “explore” alternatives to boiled eggs in the school mid-day meal. The Karnataka government has on its hand the challenge to fix malnourishment among school children in the state.

Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh told the media that the decision to include boiled eggs in the mid-day meal scheme was based on “surveys and reports from the Centre that indicated malnourishment persisting among children. We also had inputs from experts that egg was the best-known single source of protein. This led to its inclusion in the mid-day meal scheme to help children combat malnutrition.” However, according to a report in The Indian Express the minister has added that the government is “exploring other options to provide protein-rich food to children as an alternative to egg.” He added that eggs “were not being forced”. Children who did not want eggs “were provided boiled bananas as a substitute.”

Anjali, a 14-year-old Karnataka schoolgirl challenges ‘upper caste’ leaders

However, the choice it seems is not always with the children, as some Hindu leaders are reportedly asking the government to stop egg as an item offered in the meals altogether. It has taken a 14-year-old Karnataka schoolgirl’s speech directed at the powerful Hindu leaders opposing boiled eggs in midday meals to refuel the conversation. The video clip of Anjali, a Class VIII student of MNM Government Girls School at Gangavati in Koppal district, has now gone viral. She questions the seers on why they want to deprive poor children of the only access they have to eggs, “Don’t we pay obeisance to you after eating eggs and taking a bath? Don’t we offer cash to your maths? Why are you eating with our money? You throw away that money, or give it back to us. We will eat (food).”

13 year old SFI member, Karnataka Teenager challenges the so called seers who have opposed provision of eggs in mid day meal scheme.https://t.co/W6JhF6tNmT

— CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) December 15, 2021

She says the leaders do not understand the conditions of the poor, “We go to government schools because our families are poor. We need eggs and bananas. If not, we will come to your maths and eat eggs. We will all come… Do you want that? You don’t, right?… Who are you to tell us (what to eat)? We will come and sit at your maths. We are not scared. I am not alone. Your maths won’t survive if we bring all the girls from Gangavati taluk. You won’t even have space to sit, we are so many children. What do you think of yourselves? We are not what we appear to be,” Anjali does not sugar-coat her words. She, according to news reports, is the daughter of a labourer, and school unit member of the CPM-affiliated SFI.

The Karnataka primary and secondary education department have only recently decided to introduce eggs for around 14.44 lakh students in government and government-aided schools in Bidar, Raichur, Gulbarga, Yadgir, Koppal, Bellary and Bijapur districts to tackle malnutrition. It is for students from Classes I to VIII, they will get 12 eggs, or bananas for vegetarians, every month, till the end of school year on March 30, 2022. The allowance of only 12 eggs in a month per child seems to have exposed the caste divide in the state too.  

According to news reports these districts have reported a high rate of anaemia and malnutrition. After the eggs were put in the menu, over 80 per cent of the students’ parents gave consent for it. The Telegraph reported that Anjali said if the government stopped eggs the students would stage protests “since it is our right to eat what we want,” she said. 

Those opposing eggs reportedly include Hindu religious leaders such as Sri Vishwaprasanna Theertha Swami of the Pejavar Mutt in Udupi, Channabasavananda Swami of the Lingayat Dharma Mahasabha and Sadhguru Mate Satyadevi stated the news report. They have demanded the immediate withdrawal of eggs from the midday menu.” Theertha Swami of Pejavar Mutt has reportedly claimed that the inclusion of eggs would “force-change eating habits of vegetarians” adding “the government should not include eggs as there will be kids from other communities. Schools are not places to change the lifestyle and customs of children.” Lingayat leader Channabasavananda Swami told the media there will be protests if eggs were not pulled out of the menu. “Schools will turn into military hotels [which are eateries that serve non vegetarian food] when eggs are served. There will be strong protests if this is not withdrawn immediately,” he told reporters.

Protests had scrambled the egg-in-mid-day-meals’ plan in 2015

It is not for the first time that religious groups have objected to eggs in the mid-day meals. In 2015, they had actually brought similar plans to a halt, Dr. Sylvia Karpagam, a public health doctor and researcher involved in Right to Food and Right to health campaigns in Karnataka, told SabrangIndia. Such bans/objections she says are reflective of caste based discrimination. “They started distributing eggs on December 1, apparently the attendance went up [in schools] and now that the resistance has started, there are rumours that they [government] may stop it. They have said if bananas [instead of eggs] are not adequate they can also give chikkis [peanut brittle] for children who don’t eat eggs.”

Dr. Karpagam added that the ‘fear’ among the religious leaders is perhaps that the vegetarian children may be “tempted” to eat eggs if they see other children doing the same. However she says compared to 2015 [when the controversy last rose], now the demand for eggs by children is “much stronger”, as well as a lot of doctors, activists, Dalit leaders have come forward to say we want eggs. From Ahhara Namma Hakku (food is our right) a group of activists and nutrition expert, had even written an open letter to Education Minister, Government of Karnataka, asking that the state government to provide eggs for children who want to eat them, in all districts of Karnataka, as part of Mid Day Meals and not just seven, to uphold the Right to Food of every child as enshrined in the National Food Security Act 2013.

“According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 5th round (2019), most children in Karnataka do not reach their ideal height and weight. Stunting (less height for age) of 35.4% and being underweight (less weight for age) of 32.9% are common in children even before they start their school life, and this is much more so in children from vulnerable communities,” stated the letter. It further said, “The aim of the Akshara Dasoha (mid-day meal scheme, MDM) in Karnataka was both educational and nutritional – to increase school enrolment and attendance, decrease dropout rates, promote good health through nutritional foods and increasing learning ability of children.” It added, “Karnataka has been the ONLY South Indian state that has not provided eggs as part of MDM, in spite of the fact that 94% students in the government and aided schools belong to communities that eat eggs.” It cited the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16) which concluded that at least 83% of the state’s population does not have any cultural or religious objections to consuming eggs. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh provide eggs five times a week.

Boiled egg is a low-cost, easy to cook, culturally acceptable

The civil society groups have demanded that the government urgently take measures such as, eggs being mandatorily provided daily to the children in all the 31 districts of Karnataka. Milk or milk powder must be provided to the school-children under the Ksheera Bhagya scheme daily. “Milk should be reconstituted at the school and provided fresh to the children,” alerted the experts. They ask that “extra effort has to go to ensure that children in tribal belts, dalit children, children from OBC communities are not left out” and want school-based kitchens not centralized contracts.

Boiled egg is a low-cost, easy to cook, culturally acceptable and locally available alternative with high Protein component with biological value of 100 as compared to 60-70 for pulses (daal) and a good source of all vitamins except C, stated the experts. Crucially it is safe from adulteration. 

“The religious groups that don’t eat eggs don’t send children to study in government schools,” said Dr Karpagam adding that “those vegetarians who have money also have access to “animal sourced food” such as milk and milk products, which the poor children who study in these government schools do not. The three eggs they get in school each week is the highest protein rich food they have a chance to consume. 

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Communal hate crimes are acts of violence against society at large: Karnataka report

The post Why does the Karnataka government not want children to eat eggs at mid day meals? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

After repeated government promises of delivering eight-months pending wages of mid-day meal cooks, Varanasi workers on November 11, 2021 said they received only Rs. 7,500 that accounts for five months of labour.

Veteran cook Laxmi breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday when her bank account finally showed credited money. Sadly, her happiness was short-lived when she realised the Uttar Pradesh government had only sent her wages of five months of work – Rs. 7,500 – instead of eight months of salary – Rs. 12,000.

“I checked my account this morning and I saw I received some money. But it isn’t the complete amount I should receive,” Laxmi told SabrangIndia.

Her news has especially confused her colleagues, who said that they haven’t received any similar intimations or updates from their accounts. With two-to-six children in every house of the five cooks in Mahaulipur, Cholapur block’s public primary school, the need for money grows dire. However, according to Mid-Day Meal Authority (MDMA) Varanasi AD(B) Kishore, the school department has no more funds to pay the pending money to workers.

“We received these funds some days ago and immediately distributed them among people. All the cooks will get their wages soon but as of now, there is no more money. We are waiting for the next allocation of cash,” he said.

Since February, MDM cooks have demanded full payment of their wages that amount Rs. 12,000 per 3.95 lakh cooks in the state. This means that cooks received Rs. 50 for a day’s work as opposed to MGNREGA workers who received around Rs. 200 daily. Since 2017, these women continue to voice their complaints about their low wages and even mobilised at the state-level. Nowadays, bereft of any job security, cooks said they can only trust the word of the government.

Related:

MDM cooks refute gov’t claims of 8-month wage payment
UP: Mid-day meal cooks not paid wages for eight months of wages
UP: Anganwadi workers, MDM cooks and ASHA workers non paid wages for months!
Indian children grossly underweight or stunted across Indian states

The post UP: Mid-day meal cooks get Rs. 7,500 but three months salary still pending appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Varanasi’s Mid-Day Meal (MDM) cooks on November 9, 2021 were at odds with the Uttar Pradesh authorities, who assured that the eight-month pending wages have been sent to cooks’ banking accounts. Workers under the MDM scheme recently condemned the state government for failing to pay Rs. 1,500 for the last eight months. This amount comes to Rs. 12,000 per 3.95 lakh cooks in UP.

The Mid-day Meal Authority (MDMA) on its part said that the required funds were only received recently. Since November 2, authorities have told the media that payments will be made soon. Deputy Director Uday Bhan confirmed the same to SabrangIndia, saying that most cooks have already received their payment. “Some four places are yet to receive their bank transfers but the money has been sent. We request the workers to check their accounts. We are looking into discrepancies,” he said.

However, according to Supoojan, who is the Mahaulipur, Cholapur block’s public primary school cook,  no money was sent to cooks as of Tuesday morning. “I am notified by my bank whenever the money is transferred. I even visited the office in the morning. I have been working here since the Mulayam Singh Yadav government. The wages have barely been enough to educate my daughters. We should receive at least Rs. 10,000 a month,” he said.

Even when every house in the state was lit by Diwali lights on November 4, workers’ accounts remained barren of any pending wages. 

“I had no money for Diwali. I couldn’t even buy clothes or cook special food for my three daughters,” said Supoojan’s colleague and cook Savitribai. Having worked for 13 years from 9 AM to 3 PM, Savitribai managed to educate her eldest child until Class 10. However, bereft of any money, she sees no means to continue the education of her two sisters who study in ninth and sixth standards.

Another cook Laxmi said that even her complimentary work in her own farm barely earned her any cash because she cannot buy the required fertilisers, etc. to grow her field. “I am the sole bread-winner for my three children and mother-in-law. My husband has been missing for the last 20 years or so,” she said.

Laxmi’s eldest son, who studied till Class 10, tries to help by doing odd-jobs. Yet all cooks agree that their situation will not improve until their wages are revised and jobs are made permanent.

In 2017, MDM cooks launched a mahapadav to New Delhi. At the time, workers expressed two demands: payments through bank accounts and job permanency. While the former was accepted by the government, they are yet to hear about job security.

Nowadays after surviving the second wave of Covid-19, cooks have appealed for better wages, pointing out that even MGNREGA workers receive Rs. 202 a day. As of November 2021, cooks in Uttar Pradesh earn Rs. 50 for working six hours under the MDM scheme.

Related:

UP: Mid-day meal cooks not paid wages for eight months of wages

UP: Anganwadi workers, MDM cooks and ASHA workers non paid wages for months!

Indian children grossly underweight or stunted across Indian states

The post MDM cooks refute gov’t claims of 8-month wage payment appeared first on SabrangIndia.