Frequently Asked Questions On Mid Day Meal Scheme

Frequently Asked Questions on Mid Day Meal SchemeS.No.1.QuestionsAnswersWhat is the objective of Mid Day The objective of the scheme is to provide hot cookedMeal Scheme?meal to children of primary and upper primary classes.2.Whicharethe Government, Govt. Aided, Local Body, EGS and AIEinstitutions/schools eligible for Centres, Madarsa and Maqtabs supported under SarvaMid Day Meal?Shiksha Abhiyan and National Child Labour Project(NCLP) Schools run by Ministry of Labour.3.Who is eligible for Mid Day Children studying in Primary and Upper Primary Classesmeal?in Government, Govt. Aided, Local Body, EGS and AIECentres, Madarsa and Maqtabs supported under SarvaShiksha Abhiyan and NCLP Schools run by Ministry ofLabour are eligible for Mid Day Meal.4.What is the prescribed Quantity Every child is eligible for 100 gms foodgrains at primaryof food grain for the children of stage and 150 gms at upper primary stage on eachPrimary and Upper Primary working day.Schools?5.Whobearsfoodgrains?6.What is the minimum standards The quality of foodgrains must be of fair and averageof foodgrains supplied by FCI?quality (FAQ) of Grade-A.7.What is the calorific and nutritionvalue and food norm per childper day?8.thecostof The cost of foodgrains is fully borne by Government ofIndia.ITEMSPRIMARYUPPERPRIMARY4507001220100 Grams150 Grams20 Grams30 Grams50 Grams75 Grams5 Grams7.5 Gramsin convergence with school healthprogramme of NRHMCalorieProteinRice/wheatDalVegetablesOil & fatMicro nutrients &de-wormingmedicinesWhat is cooking cost per child Primary stage- Rs. 2.89per day for 2011-12 ?Upper Primary Stage-Rs. 4.33The Cooking cost includes cost of pulses, vegetables, oil& fat, condiments and fuel. It is shared between Centraland State in the ratio of 90:10 for North East RegionStates and 75:25 for other States/UTs1 Page

S.No.9.QuestionsAnswersHow many days Mid Day Meal is Mid Day Meal is served on all working days in the school.served?There is provision to provide mid day meal to children insummer vacations in drought affected areas.10.Whobearsthecostof The cost of transport of foodgrains is fully borne bytransportation from FCI go-down Government of India @ Rs. 75 per quintal. The cost ofto school?transport of foodgrains is borne by Government of India atprevalent rate of public distribution system of the State incase of North East Regions States and 3 hilly States viz.,Himachal Pradesh, J&K and Uttarakhand.11.Who cooks the food? What is There is provision to engage cook cum helpers @ Rs.norm for engagement and 1000 per cook per month for 10 months. The expenditurepayment of cook cum helper?towards the honorarium of cooks-cum-helpers shall beshared between the centre and the NER States on 90:10basis and with other state /UTs on 75:25 basis.The norm for engagement of cook-cum-helper is onecook-cum-helper in a school having upto 25 students, twocooks-cum-helpers for schools having 26 to 100 students,and one additional cook-cum-helper for every addition ofupto 100 students. There is flexibility for States/UTs toprepare their own norms for engagement of cook cumhelper.12.What is the norm for NCLP The norm laid down for primary schools holds good inSchools run by Ministry of case of NCLP Schools. The number of working days inLabour?case of NCLP Schools may be upto 314 days in acalendar year.13.Is there any provision forKitchen- cum-store in the schoolPremises? If Yes at what basisGOI is sharing the cost withstate/UTs?2 PageThe scheme has provision for construction of kitchen cumstore in every school where land is available. The normfor construction of kitchen cum store is- 20 sq. mt. plintharea for construction of Kitchen-cumstore inschools having upto 100 children. For every additional100 children additional 4 sq.mt. plinth area will be added.The cost of kitchen-cum-store is determined on the basisof plinth area norm and State Schedule Rates prevalent inthe State w.e.f. 1.12.2009. The cost of construction ofKitchen-cum-store shall be shared between the centreand the NER States on 90:10 basis and with other state/UTs on 75:25 basis. The slab of 100 children may bemodified by the State/UTs depending upon localconditions

S.No.14.QuestionsAnswersWhat is the provision for Kitchen There is provision to provide 100% Central assistance @devices per school?Rs. 5000 per school for procurement of kitchen devices.States/UT Administration will have the flexibility to incurexpenditure on the items listed below on the basis of theactual requirements of the school (provided that theoverall average for the State / UT Administration remainsRs. 5000 per school):a.b.c.Cooking devices( Stove, Chulha, etc)Containers for storage of food grains and otheringredientsUtensils for cooking and serving.15.What is the role of community?The community has an important role in monitoring andimplementation of the scheme. The community canmonitor the scheme on daily basis by making a roaster ofpersons.16.What is the role of NGOs?As far as possible the cooking should be done in schoolkitchen by engaging cook cum helpers or self helpgroups. NGOs may be involved in extra ordinarycircumstances in urban area only where cooking is notpossible in the school premises. NGOs should not beinvolved in rural areas.17.What is the procedure ofallocation of central funds eachyear to each State and UT forimplementationofMDMProgramme?The Programme Approval Board for Mid Day MealScheme, after taking into consideration the performanceof the States/UTs and other relevant factors, approves thenumber of children and number of days for the purpose ofestimating the resource requirement including food grains.Allocation/release of resources to States/UTs is madeafter adjusting the unspent balances of the previous year.18.Where does the responsibility of The overall responsibility to ensure full and properimplementation of mid day meal utilisation of available resources for serving cooked midday meal lies with the State Governments/UTscheme lie?administrations.However, the Government, throughMDMS Guidelines, has made elaborate arrangements formonitoring the implementation of the scheme at all levels.The guidelines also provide greater involvement of localcommunity through the representatives of GramPanchayats / Gram Sabhas, Village EducationCommittee, Parents Teachers’ Association, School3 Page

S.No.QuestionsAnswersManagement and Development Committee etc.19.ArethereanyCentralGovernment guidelines relatingto lifting of foodgrains and itsutilization by the States/UTsproperly?In order to streamline the lifting of food grains and itsutilization under the MDM Scheme this Ministry hasissued detailed guidelines (Annexure- III) on 10thFebruary, 201020.It is understood that earlier theStates/UTsweregivenRs.60,000 for construction ofeach Kitchen Shed, but later onthere was change in norms.What are the details in thisregard?In the year 2006-07, Central Assistance towardsconstruction of kitchen shed-cum-Stores @ Rs. 60,000per unit to the States/UTs was introduced under MDMScheme. It was decided to fill the infrastructure gap in aphased manner over a period of time. The cost of Kitchensheds was fully borne by Central Government.Several States/UTs were finding it difficult to getthe Kitchen-cum-store constructed in Rs. 60,000. Theywere also unable to effect convergence with otherdevelopment programmes. States/UTs persistentlydemanded that the cost of construction should beenhanced to the reasonable level to help achieve theobjectives of the Scheme.In view of this, the cost of construction of Kitchencum-store was revised from 1.12.2009. The cost ofconstruction is now determined on the basis of StateSchedule of Rates (SOR) and the plinth area normsprescribed by Govt. of India. The cost of construction ofkitchen-cum-store is now being shared between Centreand NER States on the basis of 90:10 and for otherStates on 75:25 basis.21.Whatisthemonitoringmechanism provided by e?22.Why the government is not The question of covering privately managed privateconsideringcoveringthe schools in tribal areas has been included in the terms ofprivately managed schools in the reference of Sub Group for the 12th Five Year Plan for the4 PageThis Department has prescribed comprehensiveand elaborate mechanism for monitoring and supervisionof the Mid Day Meal Scheme at various levels viz.national, State, District, Block and school level. Theguidelines have specific mention to involve communitiesin monitoring and implementation of the Scheme.

S.No.23.QuestionsAnswerscountry under the Mid Day Meal Mid Day Meal Scheme.Scheme?What is the position of review ofimplementation of MDM Schemeby Review Missions constitutedby Central Government?This Department has been sending Review Missionsconsisting of one representative from the Centre, onefrom the State Government, one from UNICEF and onefrom Office of Supreme Court Commissionerrepresentative to selected States to assess theimplementation of the scheme at the field level. During2010 and 2011, the Review Mission visited Uttar Pradesh,Bihar, Assam Gujarat, The reports prepared by theMission are forwarded to concerned States for takingcorrective measures on the deficiencies reported in theimplementation of the scheme.&&&&&&&&&&&&&&5 Page

Frequently Asked Questions on Mid Day Meal Scheme S.No. Questions Answers 1. What is the objective of Mid Day Meal Scheme? The objective of the scheme is to provide hot cooked meal to children of primary a