Midday Meal Scheme

The study on the midday meal scheme in Delhi looks at the quality of functioning of this scheme right in the capital itself. The study concentrates on schools run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which cover the largest proportion of children enrolled in government primary schools in Delhi, and which have the highest proportion of children from slum areas and disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.

The objectives of this research are:

• To PROBE into the current functioning of the cooked midday meal scheme in Delhi    right from when the grain leaves the godowns of the FCI to when it comes in its    cooked form to the school and is delivered to the children.
• To use the research to suggest guidelines for a smoother implementation of the    scheme.

The study was funded under the Small Grant Programme of Sir Ratan Tata Trust.

Methodology and sample

The field survey has a school survey component and a household survey component. The school sample consists of twelve schools in six outlying areas of Delhi where the proportion of slum population is high. In each of the six areas, the morning and afternoon shifts in the same school premises have been covered, as girls are generally allotted the morning shift and boys the afternoon one. In the school survey, observation is a key research tool, as are semi-structured interviews with teachers as well as the supplier's employees who came to distribute the food.

The household sample consists of 10 households from each site, selected on the condition that they have a child enrolled in one of the sample schools in that area. Both parents and children have been interviewed in the course of the survey.

The survey is supplemented with visits to some of the kitchens where the food is cooked.