Government Food Programmes in India: ICDS, Mid-Day Meals & the Right to Food

There is scarcely a state or district in the country where people are not confronting hunger. In some places it may be partial; in others its extent is considerably greater. Individuals, families and communities in villages and cities are still fighting hunger; for them it has become a part of life. Most of these people come from the unorganised sector: landless labourers and artisans, socially oppressed groups such as Dalits and Adivasis, households headed by a woman, destitute people, children working under difficult conditions in lanes and as child labourers, the paralysed and the elderly who have no one to care for them, and migrant workers. This silent tragedy occurs every day in many homes and in the lanes of our country:

large numbers of people go to sleep on empty stomachs, and in most families women eat last and, when food is scarce, they often eat the least. We now examine the government programmes that were being implemented before and after the orders of the Supreme Court to fight hunger. The principal programmes are:

• Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)

• Mid-Day Meal Scheme (now Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman or PM POSHAN)

• National Maternity Benefit Scheme (later subsumed under maternity entitlements)

• National Old Age Pension Scheme

• Annapurna Scheme

• Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS)

• Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)

• National Family Benefit Scheme

Integrated Child Development Services

The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) is the only scheme of the Government of India for dealing with and preventing child malnutrition. Nevertheless, from the point of view of dealing with malnutrition and from the point of view of implementation of the Court’s order of 28 November 2001 regarding universalisation of this scheme, its implementation is still inadequate.

On the question of coverage the Court had directed that the Integrated Child Development Services should be expanded to all habitations of the country and that there should be Anganwadi centres in Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe habitations as well as in slum areas.

So far the scheme has been able to cover only 26 per cent of children in the 0–6 years age group in India, 0.3 per cent of adolescent girls in the 11–18 years age group, and 20 per cent of pregnant and lactating mothers.

India is often described as the world’s largest democracy. Certainly it is the largest democracy. If we look at the general condition of India’s democratic institutions in an international perspective, they do not appear very bad. Its electoral system is reasonably reliable, the working of Parliament functions reasonably well, the judiciary is independent, the press is free, there is no shortage of activity and number of social movements, the old strong tradition of argument and debate still continues, and so on. In these democratic institutions the participation of the majority of people is very limited. For this their poverty is responsible, as is illiteracy, social discrimination and all kinds of deprivations. On the other hand, the powerful sections of society (the rich class, the corporate sector, the military establishment, etc.) continue to exercise considerable influence on democratic processes and public policies. Because of this, even sixty years after independence, so many people in India remain deprived of many basic facilities: food, health services, clean water, good education and social security, among others. In this highly unequal kind of democracy, where the needs of poor people are often not given much attention, the neglect of children’s welfare programmes and rights is even greater. Certainly poor children have to suffer a double blow. In this political system they have to bear the punishment of the neglect of their family as well; within the family no one listens to them and they have no say. According to the ordinary functioning of electoral politics and democracy this is not considered important. Care of children reduces poverty (Focus, 2006).

The continuous marginalisation of children in Indian democracy is also evidenced by their or their issues remaining absent from mainstream media. In the matter of democratic politics and public policies very little attention has been given to children’s issues, yet this situation can be changed. Doing so is not impossible. Certainly, despite all limitations, some space continues to exist in Indian democracy even for weaker sections. They can organise themselves and defend their rights, but when the matter concerns such small ones, this work has to be done by others for them, because in this system they cannot make their voice heard. As stated earlier, in this matter all conscious citizens can contribute at their own level.

Every malnourished child challenges the entire network of anti-democratic forces and their collusion. A political system that shows not the slightest respect for the welfare of children cannot properly be called fully democratic. An arrangement that keeps full attention on every child and regards these things as the rights of children is possible only through the democratisation of all public institutions and the creation of public pressure through public activity. In a real democracy every child should be regarded as invaluable.

In Parliament, on issues related to the rights of girls, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha had said what the priorities of our elected representatives and the government are. Children constitute more than 42 per cent of India’s population, and among them 16.4 crore are below six years of age. They do not vote, yet they are citizens, and the people elected to Parliament and the Assemblies represent them along with adult citizens. Care of children alone leads to their better development. Looking at the first six years of a child’s life, the rights of the mother and the child appear interconnected, and the health of the child is directly linked with the mother and the conditions of her work.

Certainly the discussion of child rights is not a new thing. They have also come in the Indian Constitution, and Article 39(e) of the Constitution directs the government to ensure that children are given opportunities and facilities to develop in a healthy manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity. This article is part of the Directive Principles of State Policy and should be read with Article 37, which clearly mentions that these principles “are fundamental in the governance of the country” and that it is the responsibility of the government to apply these principles in making laws. As is clear from Article 39(e), the Directive Principles (which came mainly through Dr Ambedkar) place considerable emphasis on positive freedom. International law related to child rights also strengthens the link of the government’s commitment to child rights and positive freedom. Yet in practice very little effort has been made to protect and promote the positive freedom of children, and the condition of child rights is also not very good. From the viewpoint of emphasising rights, the first thing in working is to change people’s outlook regarding the rights and needs of children. And in this matter the practical step is to bring children’s issues on to the political agenda and to determine new social standards regarding them.

There is no shortage of people in India who accept these arguments and believe that there should be a law for arranging crèches at the place of work. The Factories Act 1948, the Plantation Labour Act 1951, the Mines Act 1952, the Beedi and Cigar Workers Act 1966, the Contract Labour Act 1970, the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act 1980, the Building and Other Construction Workers Act 1996, and now the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2006, all require employers to provide facilities for the care of the children of their women workers. Yet experience shows that these provisions are rarely implemented. According to one estimate there are only about 15,000 crèches in India (M.S. Swaminathan Foundation). Clearly these are like a drop in the ocean (Focus, 2006).

Sahariya children are suffering the worst blow of extreme poverty, lack of livelihood resources and neglect of government policies. “Sehra or Sair” became Sahariya, and they claim that they are the oldest among all the Adivasis of the country. The Sahariyas of Madhya Pradesh remained in the news for several reasons in recent days. The village of Patalgarh in the Kadhal block of Shivpuri district remained in the news from February 2005 because of the deaths of 13 innocent children. This village is situated 70 km from the district headquarters and 65 km from the block headquarters. To reach here one has to go through dense forest and an uneven and broken road. The location of this village is also very strange, and even the most basic infrastructural facilities are unavailable. For example, the nearest hospital is 5 km away. Reaching here is very difficult, so running an Anganwadi and providing mid-day meals is also very difficult. Earlier there was no Anganwadi in Patalgarh village and the Anganwadi used to run in Heerapur village, which is 17 km away. Mithilesh looks after all the work here and 70 children have been registered in the centre. Yet from February 2006 these children have received neither any food nor supplementary nutrition. There is also a multi-purpose health worker, but he is able to come here only once a month because three other panchayats are also under his charge. He is also responsible for the registration of births and deaths, and in such a situation he is unable to fulfil many of his responsibilities properly. Because of this the government only denies the news of deaths. Most newborns die within a month of birth, so neither their birth nor their death can be registered. The Right to Food Campaign demanded a joint investigation from the Commissioners of the Supreme Court in Madhya Pradesh. The state government also agreed to it, and the investigation commission confirmed the deaths due to malnutrition in Shivpuri and declared the Sahariya Adivasis “the largest centre of malnutrition in India.” The commission found that the administration is completely unsuccessful and that the state government does not even have the intention of providing basic facilities to the Sahariya people (Focus, 2006).

Measures to deal with malnutrition and to prevent the deaths of thousands of children every year due to malnutrition should be taken by the Government of India at the level of war.

Mid-Day Meal Scheme

Every citizen has the right to be free from hunger and malnutrition. This right places the responsibility on the state that every person should be well-nourished. There are several ways of implementing the right to food, among which land reforms, the Public Distribution System, the employment guarantee law and nutrition schemes for children are included. All these measures are complementary to one another. By adopting only any one method the human right to food cannot be ensured.

Every Indian child between 6 and 14 years has the right to free and compulsory education. Under Article 21A of the Constitution this has also been made a fundamental right. Therefore the state has to help in ensuring that all children receive free education and that all children between 6 and 14 years of age go to school every day and regularly.

A nutritious mid-day meal protects children from hunger and provides them with supplementary nutrition. The arrangement of mid-day meal alone cannot ensure the human right to food; yet it is an important step in that direction. In the same way a cooked mid-day meal will also help in implementing the human right to education, because it will regularise the attendance of children in schools and will also increase their capacity to learn.

In some states, such as Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, cooked mid-day meals were already being provided before the order of the Supreme Court. In other states the arrangement was to provide dry rations (approximately 3 kg of grain per child per month). This grain was being provided under the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education started in 1995. This programme also provided that state governments would progressively provide cooked mid-day meals, yet most states did not move beyond providing rations until the Supreme Court intervened and ordered them to do so.

On 28 November 2001 the Supreme Court, in one of its orders, directed the governments that the programme of cooked mid-day meals in primary schools must be implemented within six months. In some states this work has still not been able to begin properly. Yet in the last two years continuous progress has been taking place in the programme of cooked mid-day meals and it has become a part of the daily routine of schools across the country.

Six years after the order of the Supreme Court it will be important to examine how successful the programme has been and how further improvements can be made in it. The experience of this scheme in Tamil Nadu shows that a better system of mid-day meals in schools can make an important contribution in the field of modernisation of primary education, child nutrition and social equality. However, these achievements depend entirely on the quality of the mid-day meal. A poor meal arrangement can be more harmful than a good one.

In addition, the mid-day meal can also prove helpful in achieving several other important objectives, such as establishing the idea of social equality and providing nutrition-related information to school children. The various roles of the mid-day meal have been clarified.

Following the directions of the Supreme Court, many states of the country started mid-day meals in primary schools. The cooked mid-day meal scheme will have a quite positive effect on child nutrition, attendance rates in schools and social equality. However, when we talk of deriving the full benefit of the cooked mid-day meal scheme, there is a need to pay serious attention to the issue of quality here. If we provide equally nutritious mid-day meals everywhere, this will also be an important step in the field of the human right to food.

The National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education was announced by the Government of India in the middle of 1995 as a centrally sponsored scheme. Under this scheme the arrangement for distribution of cooked mid-day meals in all government or government-aided primary schools was to be made within the next two years. After mediation on this, permission was given by the state governments for distribution of grain (uncooked) every month to school children in place of cooked mid-day meals. In this interval of six years, in most states cooked food has also begun to be provided in place of dry grain.

In the matter of the mid-day meal at least three decisive facts should be included: child nutrition, social equality and educational development.

From removing the hunger of school children to their healthy development there are several stages related to nutritional objectives. A nutrition expert expects the following completely from a mid-day meal: every day the children come themselves and they eat whatever is given to them. This can not only fulfil their calorie and protein requirements but can also provide various kinds of nutrients such as iron and iodine, which it is necessary to take in small quantities from time to time. The mid-day meal provides a better opportunity for implementing nutrition-related programmes that require people’s cooperation on a wide scale, for example the malnutrition eradication programme. Existing experience indicates that people’s cooperation on a wide scale is quite effective; for example, the collective use of adequate quantities of vitamin A and iron at the community level brings about a decisive increase in the level of child nutrition. This costs only about 15 rupees per child per year.

The contribution of the mid-day meal is also noteworthy in the field of social equality. At the time of the mid-day meal all children sit together and eat the same food, which will help in uprooting caste and community notions. In rural areas it serves as a means of employment for women and frees working women from the worry of the day’s food for children. To some extent the mid-day meal scheme also reduces class distinction. In fact, in the Indian environment, the children who come for admission to government schools are mainly very poor. In this way the mid-day meal can also be seen as economic relief for such a section of society. Yet perhaps what is most important is that the participation in schools of such children who have not received opportunities for development can be made easier through the mid-day meal (Jean Drèze and Aparajita Goyal).

Because of the arrangement of mid-day meals there has been an unexpected increase in the number of students in schools. This has made a foundational contribution to educational development. Beyond this the mid-day meal scheme has not only increased annual enrolment. Through school meals some good habits can be developed in students (such as washing hands before and after food) and they can also be made aware of clean water, good health, balanced diet and other related facts.

The mid-day meal has become a regular part of the daily routine of almost all schools. For the sake of example, in every school there is a cook who takes grain and other materials from the teacher or the sarpanch and prepares the mid-day meal. Yet the arrangement of the means of cooking (place for cooking, supply of water, utensils, etc.) is not uniform in every district and state. There is a need for considerable improvement in this. Yet the management of the mid-day meal generally does take place and children thoroughly enjoy the meal break.

The mid-day meal has led to an increase in the number of children, especially girls, in schools. According to a recently conducted study, after the implementation of the meal scheme a 50 per cent decline has been recorded in the ratio of the number of girl students who come and do not come to school (Jean Drèze and Kingdon, 2001).

The earlier evaluation of the mid-day meal programme started in accordance with the order of the Supreme Court also points in the same direction. For example, in a survey conducted in 63 schools of Barmer district, Ritika Khera (2002) found that compared with September 2001 there was a 36 per cent increase in the admission of girl students at the primary level in September 2002. Similarly, in a recent survey conducted in 26 villages of Sikar (Rajasthan) district it was found that after the mid-day meal started the average rate of admission in schools became 25 per cent. In some “alternative schools” of small villages the rate of admission nearly doubled after the mid-day meal started.

The mid-day meal has made the path of ending the problem of hunger in the classroom easy. In India most children reach school on an empty stomach, because either the children are not hungry at that time or their parents are busy in arranging the morning breakfast. In the absence of the mid-day meal arrangement, children generally begin to feel hungry a few hours after coming to school and it becomes difficult to pay attention to studies. In most poor areas, where some children do not even receive two meals a day, the mid-day meal generally protects those children from hunger. For example, this year the mid-day meal has made a great contribution in improving and intensifying the low nutrition of children in most drought-affected areas. In exactly the same way this scheme is important for such poor families whose head is a landless labourer or a widow, because through this scheme they at least receive a free mid-day meal for their children every day. In Adivasi areas where hunger has always been a problem, the mid-day meal scheme has made a decisive contribution in relief from hunger and in child nutrition. It is not surprising that in this survey of C.E.S. the maximum support of parents for the scheme was found among tribal communities (Jean Drèze and Aparajita Goyal). The mid-day meal should be used as a weapon for removing social inequality, instead of encouraging social discrimination through it.

The PROBE Report (1999, 92) is of the view that the “dry ration” scheme became the most popular and from it there was a considerable increase in enrolment in schools. The fact is that 3 kg of grain per month is such a magnet through which the poverty of parents can also be identified.

On the one hand the mid-day meal scheme has reduced the existing gender inequality in education, and on the other hand there has been an increase in the attendance of girls in schools compared with boys. According to this the efforts made by the school for the education of girls have a considerable effect. As the PROBE Report is of the view (in the context of North India): “Generally parents do not oppose the education of girls but they do not want to spend on this. In this sense the mid-day meal reduces a major expense of parents.”

The mid-day meal scheme is also not free from critics and opponents. Although some criticisms can easily be rejected, such as the opposition of the mid-day meal scheme by upper-class parents cannot be considered justified because they regard this scheme as a threat to their social prestige. Yet serious criticisms can be considered. Unexpected support and cooperation for continuing the mid-day meal scheme has been received from poor households, daily-wage labourers, and members of Scheduled Castes and Tribes. The surprising popularity of the mid-day meal among backward sections is one of the solid reasons that inspire the expansion and development of the mid-day meal scheme. To ensure that no child remains deprived of his or her human right to receive a healthy and nutritious mid-day meal, active efforts should be made to enrol children who are outside school.

National Maternity Benefit Scheme

An important step for ensuring food security for poor women and their children in the important stage of maternity is that such women are not available coverage under any other social security for this special period. For the first time it ensures maternity security as a legal right for women in the unorganised sector. Implement the National Maternity Benefit Scheme (NMBS) by making a payment of 500 rupees through the sarpanch 8–12 weeks before every delivery for the first two deliveries of every pregnant woman below the poverty line. The Union of India states that there has been full compliance with its responsibilities under this scheme.

Keeping in view the food security of pregnant women, the Government of India sought the permission of the Supreme Court for making necessary changes in the National Maternity Benefit Scheme and for the Janani Suraksha Yojana. In this new programme clear discrimination has been made and it separates many BPL pregnant women on the basis of geographical area, institutional delivery and the birth of a girl child, whereas the food needs of BPL pregnant women are the same everywhere.

National Old Age Pension Scheme

The National Old Age Pension Scheme is available for all persons of 65 years or above. The pension scheme provides economic assistance to all destitute men or women who have very little or no regular means of livelihood from their own sources of income or through economic assistance from members of the family or other sources. Under the National Old Age Pension Scheme the central government provides 75 rupees per month to the person receiving the pension and the state government can add its own share to this amount. The scheme should be implemented in accordance with the guidelines of the state and the benefit should regularly reach the recipients of the old age pension before the 7th of every month.

Antyodaya Anna Yojana

Every family or individual receiving the benefit of an Antyodaya card has the right to obtain 35 kilograms of subsidised rice or wheat every month from the designated local ration shop. The price of wheat on subsidy is 2 rupees per kilogram and of rice 3 rupees per kilogram. Shopkeepers of fair-price shops should not make any additional charge beyond this price in any circumstances.

An Antyodaya card should be given to every family or individual in the following social groups: all families of the so-called primitive tribal groups, all families whose heads are women, all families of disabled persons, all such families in which there is no adult member present for being engaged in profitable employment outside the house because of old age, physical or mental health deficiency, social customs, the need for care of a disabled person, or other reasons, the aged, the weak, the disabled, destitute men and women, pregnant and lactating women, destitute women, widows and other unmarried women who have no regular support, and the aged (60 years or above) who have no regular support and no definite means of livelihood.

There is no standard for obtaining a BPL Antyodaya card, and to deprive the above groups or individuals of the Antyodaya card only because they have not been placed on the BPL list of the village or were earlier wrongly deprived of the BPL Public Distribution System card is illegal. This means that if a person who does not have a BPL Public Distribution System card applies for an Antyodaya card, he cannot be refused the Antyodaya card only because he does not have a BPL Public Distribution System card or his name is not on the BPL list. This decision can be taken only after ascertaining the economic and social condition of the person or family through proper investigation.

The existing situation of BPL cards for inclusion in the Antyodaya Anna Yojana should be resolved. The central government should direct all states to speed up the process of issuing cards related to the Antyodaya scheme, especially for backward tribes. The directions given to the state governments should be implemented by them word for word and in accordance with the intention.

Annapurna Scheme

Other entitlements of aged persons under the Annapurna Scheme: the scheme should be implemented in accordance with the guidelines of the state and the benefit should regularly reach the recipients of the old age pension before the 7th of every month.

The Supreme Court, after examining the petition, noted that although there are adequate schemes for providing food security to poor people, because of the problems involved in implementing these schemes the schemes reach the people only with difficulty. Feeling the seriousness of the effect of such weaknesses in implementing the schemes on the welfare and livelihood of poor people, the Supreme Court, by an interim order dated 28 November 2002, converted the benefits of nine food-related schemes into “legal entitlements” and directed all state governments to implement these schemes fully.

Targeted Public Distribution System

Through the Targeted Public Distribution System the objective of the Government of India is to provide subsidised foodgrains to the states which in turn distribute the foodgrains to the identified households, so that family-level food security may be made available to all poor families in India.

The Union of India states that there has been full compliance in the matter of allocation of foodgrains in the context of the Targeted Public Distribution System. Yet a serious crisis is prevalent in this scheme. A large number of families have been left outside its coverage, the reason for which is either that they do not have a BPL/AAY card or that they do not receive rations on their ration card. This is not only corruption but also the carelessness of the government in establishing a workable channel for this scheme in the states, as a result of which this situation has arisen.

The main reason for inadequate allocation is the use of the poverty estimate for determining allocation. The poverty estimate is extremely controversial because several alternative estimates place the percentage of poverty from 15 to 80 per cent as against the 36 per cent used by the Government of India.

The main issue of the debate is the suitability of the use of targeting in food schemes and the reliance mainly on the poverty ratio for the allocation of foodgrains in any scheme with the objective of food security, whereas there are also several indicators that can be used for targeting.

Yet if any state brings to light any specific instance of non-compliance, the Union of India will take necessary action within the scope of this programme. The states are directed to complete the identification of families below the poverty line by 1 January 2002, issue ration cards and begin distribution of 25 kg of foodgrains per family per month. The Delhi Government shall ensure that application forms for TPDS are easily available and that no fee is charged for obtaining and submitting them. The Delhi Government shall also ensure an effective arrangement for the prompt and effective redressal of complaints.

National Family Benefit Scheme

We direct the state governments and Union Territories to implement the National Family Benefit Scheme and within four weeks make a payment of 10,000 rupees through the local sarpanch to every family below the poverty line in the event of the death of its main earning member.

Legislative Culmination: The National Food Security Act, 2013

The programmes discussed above, which were monitored and converted into legal entitlements by the Supreme Court through a long series of interim orders, found their comprehensive legislative expression in the National Food Security Act, 2013 (Act No. 20 of 2013). The Act, which came into force with effect from 5 July 2013, gives statutory form to the right to receive subsidised foodgrains and nutritional support.

It covers up to 75 per cent of the rural population and up to 50 per cent of the urban population. Priority households are entitled to five kilograms of food grains per person per month, while Antyodaya Anna Yojana households continue to receive thirty-five kilograms per household per month, at the prices of three rupees per kilogram for rice, two rupees per kilogram for wheat and one rupee per kilogram for coarse grains.

Nutritional support for pregnant women, lactating mothers and children under the Integrated Child Development Services and the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (now PM POSHAN) has been given statutory backing. A maternity benefit of not less than six thousand rupees has been provided. In cases of non-supply of entitled foodgrains or meals, beneficiaries have a right to receive a food security allowance.

Rules framed under the Act include the Food Security (Assistance to State Governments) Rules, 2015; the Food Security Allowance Rules, 2015; the Cash Transfer of Food Subsidy Rules, 2015; and subsequent amendments such as the Food Security (Assistance to State Governments) (Amendment) Rules, 2021 and 2022. State Governments have framed corresponding rules for identification, distribution and grievance redressal.

The National Food Security Act thus represents the legislative fulfilment of the long struggle, reflected in the programmes, the outlook of officials, and the continuous monitoring by the Supreme Court and the National Human Rights Commission, to turn food security from a matter of administrative discretion into a justiciable legal right.

Government programmes and the outlook of those who implement them form a critical part of the right-to-food architecture. The Supreme Court’s sustained intervention transformed administrative schemes into justiciable entitlements. The National Food Security Act gave those entitlements a permanent statutory form. Yet the persistence of hunger and undernutrition demonstrates that legal recognition alone is insufficient. Effective realisation requires political will, adequate resources, transparent identification, accountable administration, and the active participation of the communities most affected. Only then can the right to food move from the statute book into the daily lives of India’s most vulnerable citizens.

References

• Drèze, J., & Goyal, A. (2003). Future of mid-day meals. Economic and Political Weekly, 38(31).

• Drèze, J., & Kingdon, G. (2001). School participation in rural India. Review of Development Economics.

• Focus on Children Under Six. (2006). Focus on children under six: Abridged report. Citizens’ Initiative for the Rights of Children Under Six / Right to Food Campaign.

• Government of India. (2013). The National Food Security Act, 2013 (Act No. 20 of 2013).

• Government of India. (2015). The Food Security (Assistance to State Governments) Rules, 2015.

• Government of India. (2015). Food Security Allowance Rules, 2015.

• Government of India. (2015). Cash Transfer of Food Subsidy Rules, 2015.

• Khera, R. (2006). Mid-day meals in primary schools: Achievements and challenges. Economic and Political Weekly, 41(46).

• People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India, Writ Petition (Civil) No. 196 of 2001 (Supreme Court of India).

• PROBE Team. (1999). Public report on basic education in India. Oxford University Press.

• Right to Food Campaign. (2005–2006). Various reports on Supreme Court orders and implementation.

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