The adverse findings of the recently concluded study of the ongoing Mid-Day Meal (MDM) in the state have sparked off a spurt of activities in the respective departments of the West Bengal government. The study has been conducted by the Pratichi Trust, a research organisation founded by Nobel laurete Amartya Sen.
The study whose findings have been released by the Pratichi Trust in February 2010 dealt specifically with the workings of the MDM in urban areas. It shows that while the coverage of the MDM programme has been extensive, 90% of all primary schools in the state are covered under the scheme (against the all India average of 97%), the coverage of the programme is lowest in Kolkata (31%). Barring some exceptions such as Howrah, districts with higher urban population have seen lower coverage of Mid-Day Meal in the primary schools.
The spread of the coverage of MDM in primary level shows that some of the poorest districts in the state have implemented the programme in all schools. The coverage of MDM in primary level in Purulia, Bankura, South Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling hills under Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) administration is now 100%. West Midnapur and Birbhum have covered 85% of the students, Malda and North Dinajpur covered 83% and 81% respectively.
Of these, Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapur are three districts where the Naxalites are most active and Darjeeling Hills also witnesses sporadic disturbances because of the Gorkha agitations. In Kolkata, there are 1203 primary schools under the Kolkata Primary SchoolCouncil (KPSC) and another 252 schools under Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), which cater mostly to the students from the poor and needy families.
A number of these schools are located in the slum areas. Besides these, there are many privately run primary schools. But it has been noticed that the system of management of MDM in Kolkata has some differences with that of the system followed in the villages. In rural Bengal, the MDM is primarily being implemented through the active participation of the women members of Self Help
Groups (SHG) while the Village Education Committee (VEC) and the parent body take active interest in supervising the process.
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In Kolkata, the implementation of MDM in some of the schools has been entrusted with some NGOs, in other schools, the Neighbourhood Committee has been given charge of it. Each committee has been given the responsibility of running the programme in a cluster of schools.
The operational aspects include maintaining the store, buying materials for cooking and preparing food in a central kitchen and making the food available to the schools under the cluster at a given time.
Though the teachers in Kolkata slum schools have admitted that with the introduction of MDM, the attendance of the students have increased radically, yet there has been reluctance on the part of some teachers in embracing this programme.
In Kolkata, most of the beneficiaries of this programme are girl students from Muslim families, boys and girls from Dalit and other communities who are economically weak.
Yet, the resistance to bring these schools under the coverage of MDM smacks of a lack of political will, as observed by the Pratichi study. After the release of the report, the government has shown some urgency to pursue this programme and started prodding the officials to implement this seriously.
Unlike many other government programmes, implementation o MDM has been a success throughout the country. Though the quality of food needs to be improved, it must be said that with active participation of the beneficiaries, it has become a community programme. The quick response of the state administration in amending the shortcomings indicates that the administration is gradually becoming aware of this.