Why Delhi government schools ran out of midday meals in FY22

The increase in the enrolment of students in government-run schools in the national capital created a shortage of food for almost 27% of the students

The increase in the enrolment of students in government-run schools in the national capital created a shortage of food for almost 27 per cent of the students in 2021-22. According to a Union Government report, the shortage of foodgrains was due to the enrolment of more than the expected number of students.

The Programme Approval Board (PAB), which decides the work plan and budget for the midday meal scheme annually, had set a budget for 6,45,311 students in the primary and 6,39,793 students in the upper primary classes for 2021-22. This was based on the average attendance numbers registered by the schools prior to the pandemic. However, the number of students covered "on an average basis" was 7,44,158 in primary and 5,75,821 in the upper primary classes for 2021-22.

According to the minutes of the PAB meeting released on June 3, "The Government of the National Capital Territory (GNCT) of Delhi informed that against the PAB-PM POSHAN approval of children, additional coverage of 5,23,572 children was reported due to an increase in the enrolment and further mentioned that due to shortage of foodgrains, coverage of all enrolled children fell short."

The report suggested that the PAB was informed by the GNCT that the proposal for additional requirements of food was submitted to the ministry in March 2022. However, a subsequent proposal for the release of additional funds for the coverage of additional children is yet to be submitted over which the board had raised concerns.

The meeting minutes report said, "The PAB raised concern over the issue of submitting the information to the ministry very late. The PAB mentioned that GNCT of Delhi should have submitted a proposal for approval of an additional number of children after the second quarter of FY 2021-22. The timely submission of additional proposals may have been helpful in covering all children against enrolment during the closure of schools during the pandemic."

The May 9 meeting was attended by Union School Education Secretary Anita Karwal and Delhi Government Education Director Himanshu Gupta among others.

The PAB advised GNCT to take efforts to cover all the enrolled students under the PM POSHAN scheme.

The midday meal scheme covers pre-primary, primary and upper primary classes and aims to serve the nutritional needs of students by providing them with hot meals.