The mid-day meal scheme is considered to be one of the government’s most successful initiatives. For thousands of children across the nation, this scheme guarantees that they get at least one meal a day. While this has led to increased school attendance, data and social audits reveal that the food being served is sometimes unhygienic, cold, contaminated, or nutritionally inadequate. Consequently, issues like food poisoning, are seeing a spike.
In this episode, The Hindu speaks with experts on the benefits of the mid-day meals scheme, what they’ve seen on the ground and how to effectively implement feedback mechanisms.
Guests: Dipa Sinha: faculty at Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University Delhi
Sylvia Karpagam: Public health doctor and researcher, works on right to health and right to nutrition
Production credit:
Sonikka Loganathan
Correction at 11:45: Host says, "still, both Sylvia and Dipa agree, that of the two options, meals cooked in centralised kitchens are generally better."
It should be: meals cooked in decentralised kitchens are generally better
Listen to more Data Point podcasts:
