In the previous section we discussed the budget allocation of India’s mid-day meal programme on a macro level. In this post we will analyse how the overall budget for the scheme gets allocated to certain micro expenditures like cooking costs, food grains, honorarium to cooks-cum-helpers (CCH) and the remaining to transportation and monitoring, management and evaluation (MME).

Let’s take a look at the allocation and expenditure of the programme according to these parameters:

Cooking Costs:
This requires the largest expenditure out of the MDM budget as it includes spending on a range of ingredients and condiments the scheme needs to succeed.  In Financial Year 2011-12, the budgeted amount for cooking costs was 53 per cent of the total MDM budget for that year.

In 2012 the minimum allocation of cooking cost per primary school child was fixed at Rs 3.11 per day and that of every upper primary child was at Rs 4.65 per day. As of July 2013, this number was revised to Rs 3.34 for primary school children and Rs 5.00 for upper primary children every day. At this time, the scheme was also provided with additional funds on account of the withdrawal of subsidies on LPG for the year 2013-14, with this amount being divided in the ratio of 75:25 by the Centre and States and 90:10 in North-Eastern states.

The expenditure performance of the programme is also closely monitored. To ensure proper execution of the programme, The Government of India regulations state that at least 75 per cent of the allocated cooking costs in each state should be utilised by the third quarter of every financial year.

Food Grains:
This forms the third largest budget allocation of the mid-day meal programme. These allocations are decided upon after the states put forward their projections for the coming year in the Project Approval Board (PAB) documents. These numbers are calculated based on the number of school days in the year along with the estimated number of enrolled children the state will have to feed. In monitoring the food grain expenditure, the Government has stipulated that at least 85 per cent of the total annual food grain has to be available by the third quarter of the financial year.

However this amount of food grains is dependent on the total stock available with the state. This could be influenced by whether the state has unutilised grain left over from previous years as well.

The allocation of food grains for the 1^st and 2^nd quarter of 2014-15 have been released by the Government of India. Below is a representation of the total allocation of food grains for the first quarter, in the nine states in which The Akshaya Patra Foundation serves the mid-day meal.

Honorarium to cook-cum-helpers:
Each cook-cum-helper is entitled to an amount of Rs 1,000 every month. The states however vary in their utilisation of their budget allocation and the total number of posts filled.

Aside from this, the mid-day meal scheme also incurs costs during transportation and monitoring, management and evaluation (MME) of the programme.

As we can see the mid-day meal programme is a synthesis of various processes and expenditures, on a scale that is almost unimaginable. Today feeding over 114 million children in India, the programme has been conceived of and executed in a way that it tackles the pervasive issue of childhood hunger in India in a way that is positive, sustainable and commendable.

Life can be challenging when you are a girl child in India. Previously bound by social custom, girl children in India were either not provided with education at all, forced to drop out of school and help at home or married young to ease the financial burden on the family. But today that picture is slowly and undeniably changing.

By adopting the vision that ‘no child in India shall be deprived of an education because of hunger,’ The Akshaya Patra Foundation effectively found a vehicle to bring the country’s daughters under the umbrella of government education.

With the help of the state government, the foundation ensures that every day, each student shall be served a hot, nutritious and freshly cooked mid-day meal, suddenly making getting an education an exciting prospect for both parents and their children.

Young Rabeena who studies in D.K.Z.P, Modern Higher Primary School, Mangalore works hard at getting her education, studying a couple of hours every day. Her mother who studied only till the fifth grade is adamant that both her children will complete their education. Rabeena’s mother says, “The best part of the mid-day meal is that the menu has a variety of dishes and every day the children get something different to eat. The food is nutritious and is provided not only to the primary classes but also to the higher grades.”

For Sarita, a student of the Government High School, Makali, Bangalore North District, these mid-day meals have changed her life. Now a grade ten student, she has been a beneficiary of the Akshaya Patra mid-day meal programme since the first grade. She expresses her pleasure over the programme saying, “I have been a beneficiary of the Akshaya Patra meal since I was a little girl and still love to eat it every day. Like many of my friends and classmates, I too depend on this meal to get through the day.”

For students like Rabeena and Sarita who have their whole lives ahead of them, The Akshaya Patra mid-day meal programme has shone a beacon of hope on their future. The 2011 census, which indicated a 2001-2011 nationwide decadal literacy growth of 9.2 per cent shows us that we are getting there. In 2011, the literacy rates of age seven and above was 82.14 per cent for men and 65.46 per cent for women.

While progress may be slow, it is still heartening to know that at the end of it all, where there is a will, there is most certainly, a way.