Concerning the nearly 1.60 lakh students who may be deprived of their mid-day meal in November, owing to the government’s failure to hike rates and clear the pending dues of self-help groups (SHGs), Chairperson of Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights Peter F Borges wrote to the director of education on 27 October 2022, urging an early solution to the issue.
While stating that Section 13, 1 (c) and Section 13, 1 (j) of CPCR Act, 2005 allow the Commission to enquire into complaints and the violation of child rights, Peter F Borges wrote, “This is worrisome, and the government should make every effort to prevent this. The mid-day meal scheme (MDMS) of the government is aimed at providing food to young school-going children, ensuring the protection of their right to food and education.”
MDMS was conceived in 1995 to provide nutritious food to all the children in schools with the express purpose of improving their nutritional status and their attendance. “The qualification of the scheme affects a large number of students. First, the children’s right to food will be violated, a right which forms an integral part of the right to life. Second, the children’s right to education as enshrined in article 21-A of the Constitution will be indirectly violated. The provision of a meal is a key reason that many children attend/are able to attend school. If the food is taken away, their attendance is likely to fall and their learning will suffer,” said Peter F Borges.
Many parents have been influenced to send their children to school to continue their studies because of the mid-day meals, allowing them to obtain an education and prevent malnutrition.
Furthermore, Borges said, “The Commission acknowledges the efforts of the Directorate of Education to expedite and resolve this, but the facts mentioned in the news reports are alarming and hint at very serious issues which require long-term policy intervention. More than two decades have passed since the mid-day meal became a part of the daily routine in schools state-wide. In this long passage of time, procedures should have stabilised but hurdles continue to occur.”
Some students in the interior villages of Canacona have not received meals since 1 October. The revised menu of idlis and chapattis has been a bone of contention, with the SHGs maintaining that the replacements for the Goan pao are not cost-effective while they struggle to provide meals despite being short of workers and not being paid earlier dues.
The MDMS has great potential to bring about a positive change in the lives of many children. It is not to be seen as charity but as the right of children and a civic responsibility. The Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has sought an early solution to the problem and a compliance report from the Directorate of Education within fifteen days of receiving the letter.