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WHAT IS THE MIDDAY MEAL SCHEME?
The Midday Meal Scheme is the popular name for school meal programme in India which started in the 1960s. It involves provision of lunch free of cost to school-children on all working days. The key objectives of the programme are:
  • protecting children from classroom hunger,
  • increasing school enrolment and attendance,
  • improved socialisation among children belonging to all castes, addressing malnutrition, and social empowerment through provision of employment to women.

The scheme has a long history, especially in the state of Tamil Nadu introduced statewide by the then Chief Minister K. Kamaraj in 1960s and later expanded by M. G. Ramachandran government in 1982 has been adopted by most of the states in India after a landmark direction by the Supreme Court of India on November 28, 2001. The success of this scheme is illustrated by the tremendous increase in the school participation and completion rates in Tamil Nadu.


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