Jaipur- Rising inflation has placed Rajasthan's Midday Meal (MDM) scheme in a precarious position, with government school principals and School Management Committees (SMCs) struggling to sustain the program. While wheat and rice are supplied by the state government, the escalating prices of essential commodities such as cooking oil, spices, gas cylinders, green vegetables, and fruits have created severe disruptions.

Managing the scheme within the current budget has become increasingly difficult, affecting the quality and nutritional value of meals served to students.

Naveen Kumar Sharma, State General Secretary of the Rajasthan Teachers’ Association (Siyaram), highlighted the need to double the cooking conversion costs and increase the honorarium for cooks-cum-helpers.

At present, the scheme allocates ₹5.45 per student for classes 1 to 5 and ₹8.17 for classes 6 to 8, which is grossly insufficient to cover basic food items, let alone provide quality meals.

Cooks-cum-helpers, essential to the program's operation, receive a monthly honorarium of only ₹2,143, equivalent to ₹72 per day. This amount is far below the state-mandated daily wage of ₹769 for unskilled laborers.

Payments are often delayed by four to six months, further demotivating workers. Many have stopped working altogether, forcing school principals and SMCs to find alternative means to continue meal services.

The rising costs have also severely impacted students’ nutrition. The MDM scheme was designed to encourage school attendance and provide adequate nourishment to children. However, skyrocketing prices of vegetables, pulses, and spices have led to compromises in both quality and quantity.

Fruits and green vegetables, once a mandatory part of the weekly menu, are now largely absent. Schools have had to resort to measures such as diluting dal and reducing portion sizes to cope with the financial constraints.

The prescribed weekly menu, which includes a variety of meals such as roti and vegetables, dal and rice, and khichdi, has been hit hard by inflation. The program mandates serving green vegetables and fruits twice a week, but this has become infeasible for most schools.

Rising prices of essential items have made it impossible to adhere to the menu guidelines, leaving students with inadequate nutrition. For instance, the price of green moong dal has risen to ₹110 per kilogram, mustard oil costs ₹150 per liter, and cumin now ranges between ₹300 and ₹450 per kilogram.

Educators and activists argue that the government must revise its approach to ensure the scheme’s sustainability. Educationist Siyaram Sharma has called for the inclusion of cooks-cum-helpers in the recruitment drive for Class IV employees, which is set to fill approximately 58,692 positions.

Sharma stressed that cooks-cum-helpers, many of whom have worked for years under challenging conditions, should be provided with a regular salary of ₹23,465 per month, aligning with the minimum wage for unskilled laborers. This, he argued, would not only provide them with financial stability but also ensure better operational efficiency for the MDM scheme.

The government has introduced minor adjustments, such as allowing schools to deviate from the fixed menu one day a week and designating Thursdays for serving fruits.

However, these measures do little to address the core issues of inflation and insufficient funding. The guidelines for hiring cooks remain unchanged, with provisions for one cook for up to 50 students, two for 51 to 150 students, and additional cooks for every 150 students beyond 400. Despite their critical role, these workers are paid only for ten months a year, further exacerbating their financial insecurity.

Narayan Lal, Devli Bai, and Devi Lal, cooks-cum-helpers at a government school in Amarthoon, Banswara, expressed their distress:
"The government must address our plight and increase our honorarium to ₹23,465 per month, in line with the minimum wage for unskilled laborers. Additionally, our inclusion in regular Class IV employee posts will provide job security and dignity for our years of service."

The growing financial strain and the lack of adequate resources have turned the MDM scheme from a welfare initiative into a logistical challenge. Educators and activists demand that the state government urgently revise the budget allocations to ensure students receive nutritious meals and the workers responsible for the scheme are treated fairly.