Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan sends legal notice to state education dept for failure to provide midday meals

A legal notice has been sent to the secretary of Delhi government’s education department for non-commencement of cooked mid-day meals in all schools run by local bodies and those run by the government and aided by it in the national Capital.

Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan sent the notice because despite the state reopening schools for Classes I to VIII, the government absolved itself of the duty by asking parents to sign forms stating that they would send food and water along with the children.

According to National Food Security Act, 2013 and the Midday Meal Rules, 2015, provision must be made for a hot cooked meal in all schools and aided schools run by the government for children studying between Classes I-VIII so as to meet nutritional standards specified.

The Act also specifies that in case mid-day meals cannot be provided, the state government should pay food security allowance to every child by the 15^th of the succeeding month.

The Delhi government’s reluctance to begin the midday meals comes despite a letter from the Union Ministry of Education’s Department of School Education and Literacy stating that state governments should resume provision of hot cooked meals to eligible students attending schools by adhering to prevalent Covid-appropriate protocols and social distancing norms as prescribed by the competent authority.

The Delhi government had begun distribution of dry ration — amounting to 145 grams per day for children up to class V and 217 grams per day for classes VI to VIII — from December 2020. Physical classes have been off and on for children of eligible grades since November 1, 2021. Each kit included wheat, rice, pulses and oil.

According to a report in The Indian Express, a government official had stated that they would stick to distributing dry ration as it was logistically difficult for the government to juggle both ration distribution and cooked meals.

Though the rules state that money should be transferred in lieu of ration, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia had stated in January 2021 that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had the idea that it was better to distribute ration rather than transfer money.

“During the pandemic, the most vulnerable were the children and many families went into destitution. Initially, the Delhi government gave money, and then they started distributing dry ration. However, many children have complained that they haven’t got the ration,” said Anjali Bhardwaj, food rights activist and member of Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan.

This is in spite of the Supreme Court order on March 2020 stating that all states should come out with a uniform plan to ensure that while attempting to control the spread of Covid-19, schemes for providing nutritional meals to children were not adversely affected.

According to data provided by the Union government, the Delhi government did not lift any food grains allocated for the scheme for an entire quarter during the pandemic, affecting 16 lakh students in more than 3,000 schools.

The North Delhi Municipal Corporation, which runs 721 primary schools with over three lakh students, did not lift or distribute food grains for nine months last year, according to the minutes of a meeting held on June 29, 2021 between state and Central education department officials to consider the annual plan and budget for the mid-day meal scheme.

School Education Secretary Anita Karwal had then warned the Delhi government that this was a clear violation of the directions of the Supreme Court of India and amounted to contempt of court. She observed “a sheer lack of management and coordination issue among all the implementing agencies”.

Data provided by the Delhi Directorate of Education in response to an RTI query filed by Bhardwaj in January 2021 showed that no food grains allocated for the mid-day meal scheme were lifted during April to June 2020. Another RTI showed that instead, a food security allowance of ₹5.22 per day for primary students and ₹7.83 for upper primary was transferred to children.

From July to September 2020, Delhi picked up the full 10,454 tonnes of grains for the scheme, but that dropped again to a deficit 2,913 tonnes for the next two quarters, the RTI revealed.

Education ministry officials have stated that the state government did not pick the ration despite extensions and it is all outsourced to contractors who directly pick up the allocated grains from the Food Corporation of India godowns, add needed pulses and vegetables, prepare the food at centralised kitchens and distribute to the schools.

In between this apathy, in July 2021, the AAP-led Delhi government and BJP-led North Municipal Corporations have been sparring about the lack of distribution of mid-day meal ration amongst students. AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj demanded that BJP should answer to the 3.5 lakh children at 700 north corporation schools who were not provided the ration.

BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor claimed that dry ration was sent to most of its schools and that dry ration was also not being distributed in most Delhi government schools and asked Bharadwaj to regularise it before accusing the north corporation.

Kapoor claimed that even in Bharadwaj’s own GK-1 constituency, the distribution of ration was erratic. Countering this, Bharadwaj alleged that the corporation was supposed to distribute 2,924 tonnes of ration but hadn’t distributed even one kg.

Worried about the malnutrition affecting the children, Bhardwaj said they would approach the courts if the local and state government do not respond or do not resume the mid-day meal. “That this is happening in the national capital itself is an absolute shame,” underlined Anjali Bhardwaj.