Advantages and Disadvantages of Mid Day Meal Programme of District West Siang (Arunachal Pradesh): A Critical Analysis

Abstract

The Midday meal (MDM) scheme is a school meal programme in India that started in the 1960s; it involves the provision of free lunches on working days to school children. The MDM programme was first launched in Arunachal Pradesh, India on 15 August 1995. In the present study, a total of 50 schools, 200 teachers, 200 community members, and 200 primary school children from West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, were surveyed to determine the advantages and disadvantages of the MDM scheme. The introduction of the MDM scheme in Arunachal Pradesh showed many benefits especially for the rural population, such as improved school enrollment, nutritional support, employment, socialization, and development of good habits among students. The ministry of human resource provided enough funds to run the programme smoothly and efficiently, but at the same time, there were some unavoidable disadvantages, including irregularity in serving MDM, corruption practice in the structure of MDM programme, no variety of menu, cleanliness and hygiene issues, delay in releasing conversion costs, irregular inspection of the programme, shortage of cook cum helpers, and infrastructure-related issues. There are many unseen reasons behind the failure of the MDM scheme, which should be uncovered and addressed.