Mid Day Meal Scheme in India: Origin and Implementation
In this chapter Mid-Day Meals Scheme (MDMS) has been discussed thoroughly with various empirical evidences. After the famous Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), the State in India, realizing the various issues related to children, yet another famous MDMS has been initiated for the age group of children under fourteen as major food intervention programme. Since, nearly half of all Indian children are undernourished, the Scheme is intended to protect the right to food of the children while emphasizing the other aspects like right to education, right to growth and development, etc. Simultaneously, it has been argued that the hunger and malnutrition are major hindrance for children to develop and therefore the relationship between educational development and nutritional status of the children are highlighted while introducing the scheme.