Teachers and anganwadi workers in Rajasthan on Thursday opposed the Centre’s decision to link the mid-day meals scheme to Aadhaar, saying it would disrupt food distribution and teaching and learning. The move would create an “inhuman culture” where children would be denied food due to exclusion through biometrics, they said.
Responding to the queries of the Right to Food Campaign and People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) activists, the teachers said the administration should focus more on providing nutritious food for children along with a strong school health programme. They expressed surprise at the very idea of a daily, weekly or monthly authentication process. PUCL (Rajasthan) president Kavita Srivastava said here that during their conversations, the school teachers told them about classroom hunger and stunted children coming to schools.
As the children coming to the government schools are from economically weaker sections, mostly Dalits and minorities, schools generally ensure that the little siblings who come with the older children are also fed.
“If the machine does not match biometrics of a child, will he remain without food and sit in a corner watching others having meals? Won’t it be inhuman?” asked a teacher. The teaching-learning process will also be disrupted, as the day will be over in the exercise to authenticate an average of 200 children in each school.
