AN EVAUATIVE STUDY OF MID-DAY MEAL PROGRAMME IN CHANDIGARH AND PANCHKULA

The Government of India ensures in Article 45 of the Indian constitution that, state shall endeavour to provide free and compulsory education to all children in the age of 6-14 years. With the objectives of providing education and improving health conditions of poor children, Indian government launched the scheme of providing mid-day meals in government and government assisted primary schools. In the present study researcher investigated the various aspects of this scheme like meal menu, locality of kitchen and sheds used for cooking food, quality and quantity of food distributed, frequency of inspection, hygienic condition, effect on student enrolment and retention etc. Researcher visited 20 schools from Chandigarh and 20 schools from Panchkula and a sample of 200 teachers was selected for opinionnaire. Study indicated that the scheme has improved the attendance of students in schools but still could not make up the increased enrolment and retention of students. The scheme is providing sufficient nutrition to the students but the areas like food safety, food variety, distribution time, responsibilities on teachers regarding the scheme and accountability of authorities need much improvement.