Midday meals

Though in the mist of controversy, we must admit that, the midday meal programmes ensure that many poor children do not remain hungry. India is still a poor country. There are many poor countrymen who are unable to feed their children. They send their children to school so that at least one meal of the day will be assured. There are many famous food chains like Pizza hut, Mc Donald etc. working all over the world. If these MNCs can run chains without any complaints, can’t our government try something on these lines so that the midday meal programme can be implemented more effectively? In today’s era, we can definitely put cooked rice and dal on a pupil’s plate, which has been untouched by human hands, thereby ensuring hygiene. Scrapping the programme cannot be an answer. You must have heard about some children from the poorer strata, which refuse to eat these meals. But at the same time it should be pondered over as to why they do so. The past experiences have molded their beliefs. The constant media coverage about the adulterated food served at schools has made them skeptic. At the same time, it must be remembered that these children are in the minority. For many, eating these meals is the only mode of quenching their hunger and ensuring non-starvation. Instead of getting into the controversy of what kind of development have we achieved in sixty independent years, where millions of poor still sleep without any food, we must accept that they do exist. Acknowledging it will put us in the proactive mode, where we can think of improving the system, rather than just criticizing it. But criticism is all that the majority of the population does, that too while sipping their morning tea and munching cookies in their well furbished drawing rooms.