MID-DAY MEALS: FIASCO ON A PLATTER

Mid-day meals being served to children in a school.

"More than two decades have passed since the mid-day meal became a part of the daily routine in schools Statewide. In this long passage of time, procedures should have stabilized but hurdles continue to occur," is how a subtle indictment of officials in-charge reads in the notice for enquiry issued to the Director of Education by Peter Borges, the chairperson of the Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (GSCPCR). Borges, couldn't have been more on the dot. Read on to find out the turbulence in the return flight path of cooked mid-day meals for class I to IX children in government and aided schools, after two years due to the pandemic-induced break.

After a long two-year pandemic-induced interruption, children made a comeback to campuses in schools when the 2022-23 academic year kicked off in June this year. Everyone was excited. Principals, teachers, parents and most importantly the kids. 

What about the government? If headlines it grabbed in the run-up to the commencement of the academic year this year, you wouldn't be off the mark to believe the government was excited too.

Four months (one term) later, the experience isn't very exciting one discovers, thanks to a faltering school education component of the education department's legion of employees. The mid-day meal fiasco which has been revealing itself since the beginning of this month is a clear indicator. 

Clearly, the buck stops with officials and staff manning the many desks at the headquarters in Porvorim and the several ADEI offices across the State.

Canacona: rot begins to unravel

The rot began unraveling itself in the southernmost and one of the poorer regions of Goa -- Canacona -- with an estimated 1,800 school students going without their chapati-bhaji mid-morning meal in their classrooms.

At Rs 6.11 per child of classes I to V and Rs 7.45 for children of classes VI to IX, and not a penny paid to them since June, the contractors (mostly self-help groups) supplying the meals were financially crushed and simply stopped serving the meals from October 1.

Strangely, the story of deprivation of the mid-morning meal to perhaps a section of school-going children who needed it the most in schools of rural Canacona taluka, didn't make it to the news until a week later. It skipped the lenses of dozens of camera-wielding video-journalists, journalists and self-appointed social media activists for a good one week.

It only made it to the news buried in the inside pages only from October 7. Then, another week later, the Opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which prides itself in putting education at the top of its governance model, picked up the issue but lost steam after a few wisecracks at Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and a photo-op demonstration at the Education Department.

It's all about the money

It is a 'no-brainer' that any supply chain needs the cash to flow. Erratic cash flows can disrupt and cripple supply networks of even iconic FMCG behemoths of the corporate world. 

It's precisely what happened with the mid-day meal supply chain of schools in Canacona leading to its complete collapse and nearly 1,800 children going hungry in school hours. Not a single rupee has been paid to them since June this year, simply crushing them financially.

It is now threatening to replicate across the State. On Wednesday a group of cash-strapped contractors supplying cooked mid-day meals in schools in five talukas of Mormugao, Salcete, Tiswadi, Ponda and Pernem have warned that they will be in no position to supply meals when children return to schools post the Diwali vacation from November 7 if the department does not pay their bills of the last four months. 

They met officials of the Directorate of Education at Porvorim and conveyed their financial difficulties with none of their bills cleared this year. They also pleaded for a resolution of their demand to revise the rates from Rs 6.10 to Rs 8 for the primary (classes I to V) students and Rs 11-12 for the higher classes.

Worse, many of the contractors across Goa are yet to be paid for the dry rations instead of cooked meals they supplied to the kids during the pandemic years. Some of the contractors have outstandings running into lakhs of rupees they have to pay to suppliers they lifted the dry ration stocks from, on credit.

The group of contractors from Quepem taluka are also sailing in the same boat.

What meal suppliers say

Officials of the education department began engaging with groups of mid-day meal contractors back in May to lay the grounds for return of the logistics-heavy re-implementation of the scheme in schools after the two-year pandemic-induced break.

"During those meetings in May, they told us to restart supplying the cooked meals when schools begin. We raised the issue of revision of rates. We told them to make it at least Rs 10 for the primary students and Rs 12-15 for the higher classes. They (officials) coerced us to sign the contracts with a verbal assurance that price revision will be addressed," said a contractor who did not wish to be identified fearing retribution.

The department also made changes in the menu. 'Pav' was dropped and the contractors have to now supply 'bhaji-chapati', 'idlis' and 'pulav'. 

"Four months have passed and we have not been paid a single bill. I have also not been paid for the dry ration I supplied during the pandemic year," the contractor said.

So will he stop supplying meals to schools when children return from November 7 after the Diwali vacation? 

His riposte: "Let us see. They have asked all to submit up-to-date bills and promised to pay the backlog. If it does not happen (the payment) many will stop supplying because it is just not possible without any money." 

The micro scenario

Ponda taluka has 300 self-help groups (SHGs), with approximately 7,000 women engaged in the ecosystem. However, not all SHGs get contracts to supply mid-day meals to schools. Only those who have penetration in the government machinery or have access to politicians or local MLAs, panch-sarpanch etc, get it, according to the leader of one such SHG.

Even if you get a contract its not enough to make it sustainable. Unless an SHG gets to supply to five or more schools, it is financially not viable to sustain it.

“Providing a plateful of food at such a meagre price is just not feasible. It is only when meals are cooked in large quantities that one can survive and make some profits. Rates of inputs like pulses have risen. Even a single piece of bread costs Rs five. So to supply ‘pav-bhaji’ at Rs 6 a plate is unimaginable,” she said.

Also, the schools have to be in close proximity, else the transportation and manpower costs get added.

“There should be enough stock on the kitchen shelves to last for few days. Which means blocking money from your own pocket, as the bill payments usually get delayed. That’s why only the effluent SHGs can deliver efficiently,” said another SHG member.

Economy of scale

It is not all gloomy and a case of thorns and no roses in the whole mid-day meal supply activity. The inherent advantage of the economy of scale in the case of many contractors is a hidden boon and it is more the norm rather than the exception in the case of cities and several densely populated villages.

"In schools where enrollments are high and run into hundreds, the supplier is at a huge advantage with transportation costs virtually eliminated and bulk production cutting the per-child costs," one contractor said. 

Also there is a significant number of students in these high-enrollment schools that do not opt to eat the meal and carry their own tiffins from home. It is not crystal clear whether the billing algorithm of the education department factors in this section of the students who do not take the mid-day meals and contractors bill for all students.

As things stand today, there is a distinct possibility that when schools re-open on November 7 post the vacation, many schools may not see the cooked mid-day meals arrive on their premises, unless the education department gets its act together and loosens up its purse strings to pay up all the backlog of payments to the suppliers accumulated since June. Fingers crossed.

In Goa...it's breakfast

Mid-day meals in Goa are actually breakfast because the schools in Goa are not full-day whereas in other states, mid-day meals are lunch where heavy food is served.

How many students consume the meals is a question. Some students prefer pav-bhaji, some don’t like pulao, some don’t eat 'sheera' being sweet and the list goes on. The department has anyway replaced 'pav' with 'rotis' because ‘maida’ is not healthy.

There have been instances wherein mid-day meals are thrown out. Quality of the food should be strictly monitored.