Functioning of the Cooked Mid-day Meal Programme in West Bengal

Report of Monitoring of the Programme

In Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri

Prepared by

Pratichi Institute

For

The Department of School Education, Government of West Bengal

October, 2013

Pratichi Institute

Pratichi (India) Trust

2nd Floor, Burdwan University Building

EE 7/1, Sector II, Salt Lake

Kolkata-700091

The Monitoring Team

Manabesh Sarkar, Mukhlesur Rahman Gain, Subhra Das

And

Pia Sen, Toa Bagchi, Susmita Banerjee, Sangram Mukherjee

Swagata Nandy, Piyali Pal, Priyanka Ghosh

Dilip Ghosh, Kumar Rana

Acknowledgement

Department of School Education, Government of West Bengal

Office of the Project Director, Cooked Mid-day Meal Project, West Bengal

Office of the District Magistrate, Murshidabad

Office of the District Magistrate, Malda

Office of the District Magistrate, Jalpaiguri

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation

The Kolkata District Primary School Council

Antara Dev Sen, Managing Trustee, Pratichi (India) Trust

All Our Respondents

All Field Investigators and

Staff of Pratichi (India) Trust

Contents

Preface 1

Highlights 2

Section 1: Introduction 5

Section 2: Methodology 10

Section 3: Universalisation of Cooked Mid-day Meal 14

Section 4: Arrangemental Aspects 26

Section 5: Quality of Mid-day Meal 49

Section 6: Health and Hygiene 67

Section 7: Governance and Public Participation 74

Section 8: Recommendations 84

Appendix I: Profile of Respondents 87

Appendix II: Appendix tables 93

Appendix III: Best Practices and Deficiencies 107

Appendix IV: Schools visited 135

1  

Preface

The mid-day meals scheme, serving about 120 million children on every school day, is one of the

most wide-ranging of all educational cum nutritional initiatives that the Indian state has

undertaken in recent times. There is ample evidence, available in a number of studies, to suggest

that the cooked mid-day meal programme has improved the attendance, academic concentration

and nutrition of many schoolchildren. Against this backdrop, the present study investigates, in

selected districts of West Bengal, the micro-foundations of this macro-arrangement, for example,

the type of kitchen sheds that are in use, the kind of service providers put in charge of school

meals and their modes of operation, the availability of storage facilities and water, the quality

and regularity in the supply of rice, the hold-up in the payment of conversion cost and so on.

Developing a solid evidence base regarding these ‘nuts and bolts’ of this massive organizational

drive is the primary motivation of this study, precisely because these ‘small’ details often remain

relatively understudied although their vim and vigour are absolutely critical in determining the

smooth functioning of this ‘grand’ system. These everyday aspects of the school meal, often

considered rather trivial, are foregrounded in this study in order to point out that the conditions

that enable children to enjoy their right to education and their right to a decent life certainly

include these quotidian elements. This study is dedicated to the memory of twenty-two children

who died after eating poisonous school meals in the State of Bihar, with a fervent pledge to pay

careful attention to background details of the preparation of school meals such that we see fewer

of such inconsolably sad incidents.

Manabi Majumder

Director

Pratichi Institute

Pratichi (India) Trust

2  

Highlights

Functionality

• Coverage of schools under MDM scheme was near universal in Murshidabad, Malda and

Jalpaiguri. 10 per cent schools in Kolkata managed by School Education Department are

yet to be covered.

• A substantial proportion of the schools did not provide MDM on the day of visit, though

it is already introduced. Such instances are common as many schools were found to skip

MDM in all ten working days prior to the day of visit.

• MDM was not functional in 6.7 per cent schools in Kolkata at the time of visit.

• Schools were found to be unaware of the fact that MDM is to be provided on Saturdays,

27 per cent schools in Malda were not providing MDM on Saturday.

Operators

• While SHGs were the main service provider for preparing MDM, the Non-Government

Organisations (NGO) and Neighbourhood Committees (NHC) was the main service

provider in Kolkata.

• Engagement of more than one SHG for the purpose of MDM is common in

Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri. It is found to be a de-motivating factor for the

service providers.

• The teachers were found to be involved in marketing and handling of conversion cost in a

high proportion of schools in Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri districts.

• Majority of schools in Murshidabad (85%), Jalpaiguri (86%) and Malda (70%) reported

to have kitchen. In Kolkata, central kitchen for a cluster of schools was the mode of

operation.

• Many schools under Department of Panchayat & Rural Development did not have

kitchen. In Malda 46 per cent schools, managed by Panchayat & Rural Development, had

no kitchen-cum-store at the time of survey.

• Stock of rice is kept in either classrooms, office rooms or in other rooms due to shortage

of space in store.

3  

• Barring few schools in Kolkata (12.2%), most of the schools under study had drinking

water facility within the school or nearby.

• While interrupted supply of rice is an important reason behind discontinuation of MDM,

many schools facing problem of keeping stock for longer period.

• The problem of delay in payment of conversion cost was found to be a common feature

for all the studied districts, a special mention of Jalpaiguri in this regard is necessary.

Participation

• 96 percent children in rural schools and 78 percent in urban schools in studied districts

took MDM on the day of visit. Acceptance of MDM among the high school children of

Kolkata was found to be lower: in 38 percent high schools in Kolkata, more than half of

the children present on the day of visit did not take MDM.

• A greater proportion of children in Murshidabad (70%) and Malda (69%) expressed their

satisfaction over the quality of rice than Jalpaiguri (52%) and Kolkata (35%). Various

complain regarding quality of rice was reported. Complain regarding quality of other

items of MDM is greater in number.

• Children have MDM despite its poor quality. Roughly two third children in Jalpaiguri

district were reportedly eating meal despite poor quality. The proportion of children

eating meal despite poor quality was lowest in Kolkata (39 per cent).

• Children appreciated quality of MDM prepared by independent cooks over that prepared

by the Neighbourhood Committee or Non-Government Organisation in Kolkata.

• 76.7 per cent of children taking MDM were satisfied with the quantity of rice. Kolkata

(90%) reported highest and Murshidabad (67%)) the lowest proportion of such children.

• On the day of visit, only 30 percent schools provided meals matching nutritional norms

of Government, comprising both pulses and vegetables.

• The average of conversion cost suggested by the service providers for quality food was

roughly 35 per cent higher than the existing norms.

• Parents’ participation in implementing MDM was very weak, ranging between 3 percent

in Kolkata and 25 percent in Jalpaiguri; though majority of the parents/guardians

welcomed MDM scheme. The parents/guardians found its impact mostly for eradicating

4  

classroom-hunger. In Malda 94 per cent parents/guardians held this view while it was 69,

76 and 92 per cent for Kolkata, Murshidabad and Jalpaiguri.

Hygienic practices

• As regards hygienic practices there is a long way to go: Percentage schools

- not washed vegetables well before cooking – ranging between 17 to 43 percent

- Cooked meal left uncovered – ranging between 7 to 27 percent

- Did not use soap to clean utensils – ranging between 4 to 44 percent

- children not washed hands with soap before MDM – ranging between 57 to 78

percent

• Health check-ups and distribution of Iron, Folic Acid and de-worming tablets need

special attention.

Supervision and Information System

• Need of major initiatives to improve inspection system was observed, as the percentage

coverage in six months prior to the survey ranged from 21 percent in Kolkata to 46

percent in Murshidabad .

• Proportion of schools displaying information regarding MDM on the day of visit was

poor ranging from 13 percent in Kolkata to 43 percent in Murshidabad, same was the

condition of MDM logo. MDM logo was not found in a single school in Kolkata.

5  

1. Introduction

Important in itself, given its central role of enhancing the possibility of school education in the

country through assuaging classroom hunger and making it possible for all children to come to

school – a distant dream for a multitude of children of poor socio-economic background, the

Cooked Mid-day Meal Programme (MDM this point forward) has perhaps become an agent of

wider social changes beyond the boundaries of schools. Any observer can, in fact, relate to some

degree the performance of the MDM not only with the overall functioning of a particular school

but also with the social dynamics of particular areas. As a general findings, schools with a better

functioning of the MDM programme were also found to have improved level of school

functioning, scientific sanitary practices among children, environmental conduciveness to

schooling and so on. Being intertwined with the objective of the programme the above outcomes

were somewhat expected; but, that the programme could also exert an impact on the larger

societal plane was not taken quite seriously. For example, when our first report on the Possibility

of Mid-day Meal in West Bengal,1 accounted the programme to be the “largest pro-people

scheme in the state following the land reform programme” public eminency suspected this to be

a tall claim. The suspicion seemed to have a collateral relationship with the tremendous

resistance, if not hostility, the programme had faced during the launching phase (2003-05):

drawing from the opposition as well as reinforcing it subsequently. Now, after nearly a decade

of the launching of the programme, the absurdity of initial cynicism has been proved beyond

doubt, particularly after overcoming the most difficult problem of launching the programme in

Kolkata2; but, what is more important is that the intrinsic potential of the hot school meal in the

school are being reflected beyond the school. Of a number of different wider societal influences

of the Mid-day Meal we mention here only two: while sharing the school meal by children of

various religious and caste background has played a catalyzing role of communal amity, the

organizational demands of the Mid-day Meal have resulted in a very active involvement of the

self-help groups (SHGs) that has been widening the scope of their economic and social

empowerment.

                                                            1 Pratichi Trust (2005): The Impact of Mid-Day Meal Programme in West Bengal, Available at www.pratichi.org and www.righttofoodindia.org 2 Pratichi Trust (2010): The Pratichi Report on Mid-Day Meal: The Mid-day Meal Programme in Urban Primary and Rural Upper Primary Schools in West Bengal, New Delhi.

6  

Having recognized the potential centrality of the programme, one cannot, however, ignore the

problems involved with the delivery of the programme, ranging from poor quality to

interruptions and irregularities, raised by the public in the form of written and verbal complaints

to the department and highlighted by the media and other public forums. An understanding that

a proper functioning of the programme needed continuous rectifying measures based on detailed

information pertaining to the particularities of the problems led the Directorate of the Cooked

Mid-day Meal Programme, to seek research oriented help from some of the academic

institutions, aside from depending upon the departmental informational mechanism. In this

process the Pratichi Institute extended monitoring support in four districts of the state, namely,

Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri. The present report is based on field level

observation of the processes and outcomes of the Mid-day Meal Programme in 400 primary and

upper primary schools in the state (see section 2 for details of the sample and methodology).

Coverage of the Programme: A case of public determination and social action

Despite several difficulties faced during the initial phase of the programme the Government of

West Bengal had responded very positively to the challenge of bringing all the children specified

under the scheme. Beginning with 1,100 primary schools in five districts (Murshidabad,

Birbhum, Bankura, Paschim Midnapore and Jalpaiguri) on an experimental basis the programme

is now operational in 99 percent of the primary schools. The process of launching of the

programme was indeed very quick: by 2008-09, 90 percent of the primary schools started serving

hot cooked meals to the children. A real necessity of the Mid-day Meal combined with the

determined initiatives of the departments and teachers took this further to (a) win the difficult

battle of bringing the urban primary schools into its fold, and (b) launch the programme in the

upper primary schools.3 As to how seriously a hot cooked meal in the schools was needed could

be gauged from the programme’s winning the initial resistances and sluggishness. While

departmental steps with strong messages of a prioritized implementation of the programme made

the launching possible, it was a section of teachers – large indeed – who took upon their shoulder

the responsibility of moving the vehicle forward. As understood from our interactions with the

                                                            3 Pratichi Trust (2010): The Pratichi Report on Mid-Day Meal: The Mid-day Meal Programme in Urban Primary and Rural Upper Primary Schools in West Bengal, New Delhi.

7  

teachers, it was an objective evaluation of the need for a hot cooked meal that made them

involved with the functioning of the programme, despite several difficulties.

The difficulties in the urban areas were manifold and it took a fairly long time to realize the goal

of launching the scheme in the towns. While the degree of practical difficulties such as

constraints of space for cooking was much higher in the urban areas, it was the constituency of

the government run schools in the towns and cities that perhaps made the launching more

challenging: since most of the government run schools in the urban areas are attended by

children of economically vulnerable backgrounds with little or no voice for raising a demand the

realization of the urgency of the school-meal among the implementers seemed to have suffered

from motivational insufficiency. And here again, as soon as public showed its strength, the

expansion of the programme in the urban areas too galloped to bring almost all schools into the

fold of MDM within a relatively quicker time. For example, in 2008-09, only 32 percent of the

primary schools of Kolkata had the MDM programme operational; now the city is at the

threshold of universalizing the programme at primary level, as was found out from the

departmental data as well as our field level observations.

Force of public will in combination with social support in various forms (including teachers’

initiatives, constructive criticism by academia, media and others) to appreciate in totality the

urgency of cooked meal in schools has also proved its centrality while launching the scheme in

the upper primary schools: the figure of coverage of upper schools under the MDM has been

raised from 54 percent in 2008-09 to 95 percent now is a real achievement.

Progresses and Challenges: Constituency Factor

The advancements found in the coverage drive has also seemed to have taken a route to attain

sustainability, although, to a lesser degree of success than what has been achieved in the

coverage. As found by our survey, in considerable number of schools the programme

encountered occasional halts due to several reasons related mainly with supply side hitches but

also with social and political conflicts at the ground level. The problems, irrespective of their

natures – administrative, social or political – tended to be rooted deep inside the characteristic

divisiveness in the society: the very social divisions, resulting in the voiceless-ness of sections of

people, that made the launching of the MDM in Kolkata difficult, was found to be responsible

8  

for the interruption of the launched programme in almost one fourth of the visited schools in

Jalpaiguri, a district inhabited mainly by socially disadvantaged and economically vulnerable

population. The same constituency of the schools – children of poor socio-economic background

– who became the worst victims of the delay in launching the programme in Kolkata happened to

be the deprived lot in Jalpaiguri. In other words, it was the section that deserved most was found

to be the most neglected ones. Occurrence of interruptions in the programme was also found in

other three districts; though the degree was somewhat lesser than what was found in Jalpaiguri

the very feature of intrusion is no less worrying.

Not surprisingly though, the constituency issue was found to have negatively influenced the

quality of the Mid-day Meal – 57 percent and 53 percent of the children interviewed in Jalpaiguri

and Kolkata respectively reported the quality of the meal not to be good; corresponding figures

for Malda and Murshidabad (both 43 percent), though lower, were no less disturbing.

Related problems found by the survey pointed out towards scope and urgency of major

improvements in many areas including ensured regularity in transferring funds, quality of rice,

and so on. And, again, the problems seemed to have a strong connection with the extent of

marginality of the population the schools have been serving to.

While functional rectification demands immediate action, need for some policy modifications

were found to be urgent. While one major policy framing that seems to be urgently required is to

make sufficient provision for the expenses involved in getting the meal ready (buying

ingredients, fuel, etc. and honorarium to the cooks), the other area, which is partly related to the

above, is to develop clear mechanism for maintaining accuracy of records. For example, since

there is no provision of MDM for children of the pre-primary sections, but sharing the meal by

them can not be refused, hence “unofficial” measures have become inevitable. Also, in many

schools, the conversion cost was reported to be so inadequate that some “off the records”

measures became “obvious”. However well intended the practices could be this cannot but be

taken as a serious problem demanding immediate rectification.

Another major area of improvement is to enhance manifold the degree of social involvement in

the functioning of the programme. That involvement of parents and others in the MDM makes a

qualitative difference in the programme was found in some of the exemplary schools; there is,

9  

however, no reason why this should remain as an exclusivity rather than being a general feature.

Experiences of the exemplary schools combined with enhanced degree of scope of social

involvement through making room for the parents and others in the functioning, bringing in

further transparency in the programme and so on could helpfully be devised to make the

programme qualitatively better.

There appeared a strong association between the quality of the meal and overall performance of

the schools: both were found to have inseparably complimentary effect on one another. In other

words the consumed quality of the Mid-day Meal is directly linked with its social quality –

enhancement of education and other wider positive changes.

Need for a wider outlook

While the problems involved in the delivery of the MDM were apparently functional in nature,

closer examination, however, reveals the lack of clarity on the objective of the programme to be

one of the major roots of the constraints. As found in most of the visited schools, the school meal

was taken exclusively to be a hunger-assuaging programme; and the straight-forward

relationship of hunger with economic poverty seemed to have resulted in an implied

understanding of the programme’s being a scheme for the poor children only. The understanding

was not confined to the teachers or cooks; rather it was found to be pervasive – from public

servants and representatives to common people appeared to have a shared view.

That the menace of hunger has a notorious presence in our state as well as the country is

barbarically true; many of the children reported to have come to the school without having

anything in the morning. As seen in many of the visited schools, interruptions in the programme,

for whatsoever reason, often resulted in closing the school at lunch for children unable to

withstand the wrath of hunger refused to stay at school. But, unless the meal is seen as an

integral part of schooling it is bound to encounter one or other problems; education being an

equity enhancing achievement essentially requires its process to be equitable. The MDM has

offered this scope in a much bigger way. And, the successes achieved so far in this field of

central importance not only show us the possibility of the Mid-day Meal but also guides us to

move forward to achieve the unachieved.

   

10  

2. Methodology

There was considerable variation in the socio-economic characteristics of the districts where the

Pratichi Institute had carried out the monitoring of the Mid–day Meal programme. While

Kolkata was completely urban in nature, , the other districts, Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri

are predominantly rural, though they too had some major variations in terms of the residential

distribution of population: as per 2011 census, the share of rural population in Murshidabad,

Malda and Jalpaiguri districts were 80, 86 and 73 percent respectively. As regards the social

composition of population, Murshidabad and Malda had a high concentration of Muslims (64%

and 50 % respectively), while the the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes had a major share

in the population of Jalpaiguri (37% and 19% respectively). Kolkata, on the other hand had

negligible share of the SCs (6%) and STs (0.2%) and lesser representation of the Muslims

(20%).4

Table-2.1. Share of population (in %) with respect to residence, social identity and literacy rates*

District Residence Social Identity Literacy rate

Rural Urban SC ST Muslim Others All Female

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Kolkata 0.0 100.0 6.0 0.2 20.3 73.5 87.1 85.0

Murshidabad 80.3 19.7 12.0 1.3 63.7 23.0 67.5 63.9

Malda 86.4 13.6 16.8 6.9 49.7 26.5 62.7 57.8

Jalpaiguri 72.6 27.4 36.7 18.9 10.9 33.6 73.8 66.7

* Population ratio for residence and literates is based on census 2011 while for social identity it

is based on census 2001;

Source: Census India

These apart, there were marked differences between the districts’ achievement in literacy rate:

while Kolkata had a literacy rate of 87 percent, percent share of literates to total population

(above 7 years of age) in Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri were 68, 63 and 74 respectively.

These diversities were further added by the differences in the management types of the schools

                                                            4 Population share for social categories was based on Census 2001.

11  

under the survey. While majority of the schools were run by the Department of School

Education, there were schools which were operational under the Panchayat and Rural

Development Department, The Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the National Child Labour

Project (see Table 2.2).

Table-2.2. Distribution of schools under various managements

District Category Management Total

Dept. of School Education

Corporation/

Municipality

Panchayat

& Rural Development

Madrasa Siksha Kendra

Madrasa Education

NCLP

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Kolkata

Primary 1153 340 0 5 1 11 1510

Other 538 0 0 8 8 0 554

All 1691 340 0 13 9 11 2064

Murshidabad

Primary 3167 5 1582 0 0 140 4894

Other 759 0 202 72 97 0 1130

All 3926 5 1784 72 97 140 6024

Malda

Primary 1889 `21 619 1 0 16 2546

Other 408 0 106 20 67 0 601

All 2297 21 725 21 67 16 3147

Jalpaiguri

Primary 2029 42 1088 0 0 19 3178

Other 491 0 112 14 9 0 626

All 2520 42 1200 14 9 19 3804

Source: District Information System for Education (DISE) 2011-12

Intended to capture the diversity described above, it was decided, in consultation with the

Directorate of Cooked Mid-day Meal Programme, to select the schools on a stratified random

sampling basis, taking into consideration the differences in (a) management types, (b) residence

12  

types (rural/urban), and (c) categories (primary/upper primary) of the schools The Department

of School Education also desired that all the blocks and municipalities of the districts be covered

under the sample, the size of which was decided to be 100 for each of the districts under

investigation. It was further decided that at least two schools from each category and location

(rural and unban) would be taken from any management unless the proportion was too small to

consider. The distribution of the sampled schools under monitoring is presented in table-2.3. (A

list of the selected schools is given in Appendix IV).

Table-2.3. Distribution of sampled schools in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri

District Category Management Total

Dept. of

School

Educatio

n

Corporati

on/

Municipa

lity

Panchayat

& Rural

Developme

nt

Madrasa

Siksha

Kendra

Madrasa

Education

NCLP

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Kolkata

Primary 54 16 0 0 0 2 72

Other 26 0 0 1 1 0 28

All 80 16 0 1 1 2 100

Murshidabad

Primary 51 1 24 0 0 2 78

Other 14 0 4 2 2 0 22

All 65 1 28 2 2 2 100

Malda

Primary 59 1 20 0 0 1 81

Other 13 0 3 1 2 0 19

All 72 1 23 1 2 1 100

Jalpaiguri

Primary 54 1 26 0 0 1 82

Other 13 0 3 1 1 0 18

All 67 1 29 1 1 1 100

13  

As is shown in Table 2.3, majority of the sampled schools were under the Department of School

Education and the Department of Panchayat and Rural Development for they had the major share

of school under their control.

The mode of inquiry for the monitoring was ‘interview schedule’ prepared separately for the

teachers, the cooks, the children and their parents. The field work was started in December, 2012

for Kolkata and Murshidabd, January, 2013 for Jalpaiguri and February, 2013 for Malda. Field

investigations were completed by March, 2013 for all the four districts. The data were

computerized and analyzed at the Institute’s office.

Children taking MDM at Vedvyas Nepali Junior High School in Jalpaiguri District

   

14  

3. Universalisation of Cooked Mid-day Meal

The Cooked Mid-day meal programme has met with reasonable success in West Bengal. Despite

initial difficulties with the coverage, the programme’s success is clearly indicated by its near

universalisation within a limited time frame.1 Yet this issue of coverage still remains to be settled

completely. The main reasons behind this incomplete universalisation are (a) some schools in

urban area, however few in number, are yet to be covered under the MDM programme and (b) in

many urban and rural schools one or the other form of disruption continues to interrupt the

project.

The next sub-sections discuss the major issues that give rise to this problem.

3.1. Extent of Cooked Mid-day Meal Programme

Much before the legislation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act,

2009 (the RTE Act), most of the primary schools in rural West Bengal were brought under the

coverage of the MDM programme. But the incomplete coverage of upper primary schools in

both rural and urban areas and primary schools in urban areas continued to remain a concern. For

example, in 2008-09, while most of the rural primary schools were found to have launched the

programme, in Kolkata (incidentally the capital city of West Bengal) the programme was not yet

launched in more than two third of the primary schools. Hence, the coverage was a meagre 31

percent. Again, progress in complying with the mandate of bringing the upper primary schools

was also quite slow: by then only 54 percent of the upper primary schools of the state had

launched the programme.5 This background information has particular relevance since it shows

the possibility of surmounting the problems involved in launching the programme. The survey

data as well as those provided by the department indicate that the intensity of problem has been

reduced substantially, particularly in Kolkata. Therefore we can hope that committed efforts and

experienced implementation will be able to do the rest.

The coverage related figures found by the survey were largely compatible to the departmental

data. According to the survey, coverage figures for Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri

found were 88.9, 100.0, 100.0 and 100.0 percent respectively (See table-3.1). The corresponding                                                             5 For details, see Pratichi Trust (2010): The Pratichi Report on Mid-Day Meal: The Mid-day Meal Programme in Urban Primary and Rural Upper Primary Schools in West Bengal, New Delhi.

15  

figures for the upper primary schools were 92.9, 95.5, 94.7, and 100.0 percent (See table-3.1).

Despite general compatibility the survey figures pertaining to the primary schools of Kolkata and

upper primary schools Jalpaiguri were in some variation with the departmental data (See table-1

in Appendix II).

Table-3.1. Coverage of schools (in %) in the studied districts under the MDM scheme*

District Primary Other categories All

Total

no. of

school

Proportion of

school

introduced MDM

Total

no. of

school

Proportion of

school

introduced MDM

Total

no. of

school

Proportion of

school

introduced MDM

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Kolkata 72 88.9 (64) 28 92.9 (26) 100 90.0 (90)

Murshidabad 78 100.0 (78) 22 95.5 (21) 100 99.0 (99)

Malda 81 100.0 (81) 19 94.7 (18) 100 99.0 (99)

Jalpaiguri 82 100.0 (82) 18 100.0 (18) 100 100.0 (100)

Total 313 97.4 (305) 87 95.4 (83) 400 97.0 (388)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of schools

Source: Field Survey

It is worth mentioning here that all the 10 schools in Kolkata (eight primary and two upper

primary schools) not yet covered under the MDM were managed by the Department of School

Education.

In 2003 only 3.1 and 2.6 percent schools in Kolkata and Malda introduced MDM respectively.

Most of the primary schools in the studied districts except Kolkata were found to have

introduced the scheme between 2004 and 2009. But this initiative of providing the cooked meal

in the primary schools of Kolkata was taken mostly after 2009 (68.8 %), which corresponds to

the introduction of the RTE Act.

 

Figure-

introduc

Figure-

of intro

3.1. Variati

ction of MD

Source: Fie

3.2. Variati

duction of M

Source: Fie

0102030405060708090100

Per cent of schoo

l covered

0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

Per cent of schoo

l covered

ion in propo

DM

eld Survey (

ion in propo

MDM

eld Survey (

3.1

28.1

68.8

0.0

100.0

ortion of pri

(teachers’ re

ortion of oth

(teachers’ re

9.7

77.88

12.5

23.8

4

76.2

16 

imary categ

esponses)

her categori

esponses)

2.6

93.4

3.9

47.1

652.9

ory schools

ies of schoo

19.0

78.5

2.5

61.1

38.9

s (in %) with

ols (in %) w

At 20

2004

Since

At 2

Sinc

h respect to

with respect

003

4 ‐ 2009

e 2010

2009

ce 2010

o the year of

t to the year

f

r

17  

Hence there lies a complete difference between the trends of coverage of MDM in primary

schools and its upper primary counterparts. Most of the surveyed districts, with the exception of

Jalpaiguri, launched the MDM programme for the upper primary schools only after 2009 (See

figure-3.2). In fact, Jalpaiguri was the only district where more than 60 percent of the upper

primary schools reported to have introduced the MDM by 2009. Kolkata, on the contrary, had

not introduced the programme in any of the upper primary schools by 2009, although the order

stating the coverage of all upper primary students under the purview of the scheme by 2008-09

had already been in issued. Nevertheless the initial problems regarding launching the scheme in

upper primary schools6 has, to a great extent been, been solved.

3.2. Coverage of Children

According to the data provided by the Department of School Education, Government of West

Bengal the proportions of enrolled children for the primary schools covered under the MDM

scheme in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri were 98.3, 82.9, 100.0 and 61.8 percent

respectively and 98.0, 55.2, 100.0 and 60.7 percent respectively for the upper primary schools

(See table-2 in Appendix-II). Although the field survey data largely matches the departmental

figures, there appeared some variations in Jalpaiguri, Murshidabad and Kolkata: while in the

former two districts the extent of coverage of children was found to be higher than that of the

departmental data, in case of the latter, it was just the opposite (See table-3.2).

Our survey, however, found that, except in Kolkata, all the primary school children were covered

under the scheme. At the upper primary level, some sections of the children except in Jalpaiguri

were yet to be covered – in Kolkata this proportion was substantial (14%).

                                                            6 For details, see Pratichi Trust (2010): The Pratichi Report on Mid-Day Meal: The Mid-day Meal Programme in Urban Primary and Rural Upper Primary Schools in West Bengal, New Delhi.

18  

Table-3.2. Coverage of MDM (in %) for the children enrolled

District Primary Other categories All

Proportion of

enrolled children covered

by MDM Scheme

Proportion of

enrolled children covered

by MDM Scheme

Proportion of

enrolled children covered

by MDM Scheme

1 2 3 4

Kolkata 93.6 86.1 88.7

Murshidabad 100.0 96.1 97.6

Malda 100.0 97.4 99.0

Jalpaiguri 100.0 100.0 100.0

Total 99.1 94.7 96.7

Source: Field Survey

It was found in the survey that the average rate of school attendance of children on the day of

visit varied between 63.5 percent in Murshidabad to 54.4 percent in Jalpaiguri district (See

column 4 in table-3.3). While looking into the variations based on the category of schools, the

highest rate of attendance was found to be 64.3 percent for the primary schools in Murshidabad

and 64.5 percent for upper primary schools in Kolkata.

Table-3.3. Rate of school attendance of children (in %) where MDM was provided on the day of visit

District Primary Other categories All

1 2 3 4

Kolkata 54.1 64.5 57.3

Murshidabad 64.3 60.0 63.5

Malda 55.6 54.9 55.5

Jalpaiguri 54.6 53.4 54.4

Total 58.6 59.2 59.1

Source: Field Survey

19  

We also compiled the child attendance data from the school registers for the last three days

preceding the survey. Although the average rate of attendance according to the school register

was higher (See table-4 in Appendix-II) than the corresponding figures of the day of visit, it was

still lower than the desired level.

The lower rate of attendance is partly attributed to the time, since in many schools the survey

was carried out at the beginning of the academic session. Also, in some of the areas, the visits

coincided with local festivals. Thus, these data should be taken as indicative rather than

definitive.

However, the attendance figures are connected to two pertinent questions. First, the allotment of

Mid-day Meal provisions for 85 percent of enrolled children assuming that the rate of attendance

will be under that particular figure has often been questioned by the teachers and others: the basis

of allotment (85%) goes against the normative principle, i.e. the desired level of 100 percent

attendance of children. Now, that the present survey findings and other studies confirm a rate

less than 85 percent, the rate of attendance might support the basis of official allotment.

However, this does not in anyway make the normative demand irrelevant. Also, it has to be kept

in mind that the average figures include attendance rates of some schools where it was much

higher than 85 percent.

Secondly, there are discrepancies between the school register data and actual headcounts. This

happens mainly due to two factors: (a) children belonging to pre-primary section have no

provision for MDM yet they need to be provided with the meal. In order to meet this requirement

some of the schools might have followed the practice of inflating attendance data, (b) allotment

of provisions, particularly due to the conversion cost, was often complained to be far from

adequate, particularly due to the tremendous price hike. So, some schools might have found it

easier to come to terms with the situation by inflating the headcount. These problems need to be

addressed on an urgent basis, since they have generated a practice, which, however well

intended, is unscrupulous in nature. These problems can be easily sorted out by: (a) making

allotment on 100 percent basis, (b) making provision of MDM to the children of pre-primary

attending school officially so that their number can also be recorded, (c) enhancing the

conversion cost in correspondence with the price rise, and (d) strengthening the supervisory

mechanism to check the discrepancies of enrolment and attendance records.

 

3.3. Reg

While c

program

schools

highest

were 12

together

such sc

in other

Figure-

Various

Jalpaigu

that of

reason b

In Kolk

services

interrup

gularity in

coverage of

mme seemed

s that did no

among all

2.2, 15.2 a

r this propo

hools the in

r cases the m

3.3. Distrib

Source: Fie

s reasons fo

uri and Mal

absence of

behind the

kata the lea

s of the NG

pted on the

Kolk

Murshidab

Ma

Jalpaig

the Functi

f the MDM

d to have fa

ot provide M

districts. Co

and 16.2 pe

ortion was

nterruption

meal was sim

ution of sch

eld Survey

for not prov

lda, majorit

f children o

interruption

ading cause

GOs. 45.5 p

day of vis

0

kata

bad

alda

guri

Per c

ioning of C

M scheme w

aced often w

MDM on th

orrespondin

ercent respe

found to be

was compe

mply stoppe

hools (in %)

viding MDM

ty of the tea

n that parti

n was repor

e of irregul

percent resp

sit in Kolka

10

12.

11.5

11.512.2

ent of school

20 

ooked Mid

was found

was frequen

he day of v

ng figures fo

ectively (S

e 16.5 perc

ensated with

ed.

) that interru

M on the d

achers conn

icular day (

rted to be th

larity of M

ondents of

ata reported

20

5

16

19.5

16.7

2

15.2

16.2

22.0

interrupted

d-day Meal

to be impr

nt interrupti

visit in Jalpa

for Kolkata,

ee figure-3

cent (See ta

h dry food (

upted MDM

day of visit

ected the in

(See table-3

he absence o

MDM was fo

those schoo

d that poor

30

28.6

33.0

cooked MDM

Programm

ressive, a m

ion in the op

aiguri was 2

Murshidab

.3). Taking

able-5 in Ap

(bread, swee

M on the day

t were give

nterruption i

3.4). In Jalp

or poor perf

found to be

ols where M

quality of

40

3

M

A

O

P

me

major proble

peration. Pr

22 percent,

bad and Ma

g all the fo

ppendix-II)

et, muri/chi

y of visit*

en by the t

in the progr

paiguri, the

formance o

e linked wit

MDM was

food or irre

All

Other Categor

Primary

em that the

roportion of

which was

alda districts

our districts

. In four of

ire, biscuit)

teachers. In

ramme with

other main

f the cooks

th the poor

found to be

egularity of

ries

e

f

s

s

s

f

,

n

h

n

.

r

e

f

21  

services were the main reasons causing the interruption of MDM in their schools. MDM was

reportedly interrupted due to conflict among SHGs in two schools of Jalpaiguri. Interruption in

the supply of rice was another important reason behind the discontinuity of MDM, particularly in

Kolkata and Malda (27.3 % and 25 % respectively). A considerable proportion of schools in

Murshidabad and Malda did not provide MDM on the day of visit since it was a Saturday (See

table-3.4). Surprisingly, teachers of those schools reported that they had not received the relevant

departmental order of providing the meal on Saturdays.

Table-3.4. Variation in responses of teachers for the interruption of MDM on the day of visit (in %) *

Low

attendance

of children

Service

provider

absent or any

other problem

No

stock of

rice

No order

for

providing

Saturday

Dry food

provided

Other

reasons

Total

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Kolkata 0.0 (0) 45.5 (5) 27.3 (3) 0.0 (0) 9.1 (1) 18.2 (2) 100.0 (11)

Murshidabad 13.3 (2) 13.3 (2) 13.3 (2) 20.0 (3) 13.3 (2) 26.4 (4) 100.0 (15)

Malda 25.0 (4) 6.3 (1) 25.0 (4) 18.8 (3) 0 (0) 25.0 (4) 100.0 (16)

Jalpaiguri 31.8 (7) 22.7 (5) 9.1 (2) 0.0 (0) 4.5 (1) 31.8 (7) 100.0 (22)

Total 20.3 (13) 20.3 (13) 17.2 (11)

9.4 (6) 6.3 (4) 26.6 (17) 100.0 (64)

*Figures in parenthesis indicates the number of school

Source: Field Survey

While looking into the regularity of MDM in the last 10 working days preceding the survey, 50

percent of the schools in Malda and Jalpaiguri were found to have faced interruption (See

column-6 in table-3.5). Although, number of such schools was lowest in Kolkata, it was in no

way negligible (19 %). Average number of days of interruption in MDM in the last 10 days prior

to our visit was 1.6 for four districts. (See column-7 in table-3.5).

22  

Table-3.5. Variation in interruption of MDM in an average for last 10 working days preceding

the survey*

District Primary Other categories All

Per cent

of schools

interrupted

No. of days

interrupted

by a school

(average)

Percent

of schools

interrupted

No. of days

interrupted

by a school

(average)

Percent

of schools

interrupted

No. of days

interrupted

by a school

(average)

Percent of

schools

interrupted

for 10 days

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Kolkata 19.0 (12) 1.2 18.5 (5) 1.0 18.9 (17) 1.1 8.9 (8)

Murshidabad 21.8 (17) 1.0 52.4 (11) 2.8 28.3 (28) 1.4 6.1 (6)

Malda 51.9 (42) 1.9 38.9 (7) 1.2 49.5 (49) 1.8 6.1 (6)

Jalpaiguri 51.2 (42) 1.6 55.6 (10) 3.6 52.0 (52) 2.0 9.0 (9)

Total 43.7 (113) 1.4 39.3 (33) 2.0 37.6 (146) 1.6 7.5 (29) *Figures in parenthesis indicates the number of school

Source: Field Survey

The interruptions did not tend to follow a uniform pattern: while in Murshidabad and Jalpaiguri

the interruptions occurred more in the upper primary schools, in Malda the primary school

children became the main victims of such irregularity (See table-3.5). In Kolkata there was not

much difference between the primary and upper primary schools. According to the RTE Act, the

minimum number of working days in an academic year is 200 in primary and 220 in upper

primary level. Based on our survey data for the last 10 days preceding the visits, an extrapolated

calculation for the whole year indicates that on average children of primary and upper primary

schools of the surveyed districts have been deprived of the of the MDM for 28 and 44 working

days respectively. Corresponding figures for the districts are: Jalpaiguri: 32 and 79 days; Malda :

38 and 26 days; Murshidabad: 20 and 62 days; Kolkata: 24 and 22 days.

Although Kolkata performed better than the rest in the operations, some major problems

continue to exist: proportion of schools that did not provide MDM even for a day in the last 10

working days was highest in Kolkata along with Jalpaiguri (See column-8 in table-3.5). More

importantly there were 6 schools in Kolkata that had completely stopped the MDM for various

reasons (See the list of schools for Kolkata in table-2.1 in Appendix-III). Here it is worth

23  

mentioning that none of the schools under National Child Labour Project (NCLP) visited by us

was found to have faced interruption in MDM.

Mominpur U P School is a primary school located in South Kolkata. All the children of this

school were Muslim. The MDM was introduced in this school in 2011. But the food supplied

from the central kitchen of Mahila Kola Siksha o Seva Kendra, a NGO, was reportedly very

poor in quality. Offensive odour and stones made the meal unpalatable. Therefore the NGO

was not allowed to provide MDM in this school for the last six months preceding the visit

(February 28, 2013).

Irregularity in the programme is certainly a major concern and requires urgent policy attention

since not only does it defeats the very objective of the programme but reverses the efforts

involved in widening the coverage of the programme to near universalisation also.

3.4. Provision of MDM on Saturday

Initially there was no provision to provide the MDM on Saturdays in West Bengal. The absence

of this provision had a direct bearing on the attendance of primary school children on Saturdays.

Hence there was a strong demand from various sections of the society in favour of providing the

MDM on Saturdays too. The demand was addressed in 2011 through an official order (Memo

No. 346(23)/MDM) directing the schools to provide MDM on Saturdays in addition to what

already existed. Most of the schools covered in our survey were found to have followed the

order. There were some who reported not receiving it. Out of 400 schools under the survey, 54

(14.2 %) were not reportedly providing the meal on Saturdays (See table-3.6). This number was

highest in Malda (27.3 %) and lowest in Kolkata (3.6%). There was no uniformity in school

categories in this regard. In Malda higher proportion of primary schools were not providing

MDM on Saturday, while in Murshidabad the defaulters were upper primary schools (See table-

3.6). Jalpaiguri did not show any difference between primary and upper primary schools.

24  

Table-3.6. Distribution of schools (in %) not providing MDM on Saturday*

District Primary Other categories All

Total

res-

ponses

Schools not

providing MDM

on Saturday

Total

res-

ponses

Schools not

providing MDM

on Saturday

Total

res-

ponses

Schools not

providing MDM

on Saturday

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Kolkata 60 3.3 (2) 24 4.2 (1) 84 # 3.6 (3)

Murshidabad 78 6.4 (5) 21 38.1 (8) 99 13.1(13)

Malda 81 29.6 (24) 18 16.7 (3) 99 27.3 (27)

Jalpaiguri 81 11.1 (9) 18 11.1 (2) 99 11.1 (11)

Total 300 13.3 (40) 81 17.3 (14) 381 14.2 (54)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school # MDM was not functional in 6 schools of

Kolkata;

Source: Field Survey (teachers’ responses)

Unfortunately the highest number of teachers (72.2%) of those schools not providing MDM on

Saturday responded saying that they did not receive the above mentioned order till the date of

our visit. Except in Jalpaiguri (See table-3.7) this was the main reason behind such irregularity.

In absolute number this figure was very high for Malda (24 schools). Surprisingly some teachers

in Jalpaiguri and one teacher in Murshidabad told us that they did not provide the meal on

Saturday since the attendance of children was low on that day. The reason was not quite in

accordance with the general trend which shows a rise in attendance on Saturdays following the

introduction of the Saturday mid-day meal.

25  

Table-3.7. Various reasons cited by the teachers for not providing MDM on Saturday*

District Total no. of School

reportedly not

providing MDM

on Saturday

Percent of school

citing no order

for Saturday as

reason

Percent of school

citing low attendance

of children on

Saturday as reason

Percent of

school citing

other reasons

1 2 3 4 5

Kolkata 3 100.0 (3) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0)

Murshidabad 13 84.6 (11) 7.7 (1) 7.7 (1)

Malda 27 88.9 (24) 0.0 (0) 11.1 (3)

Jalpaiguri 11 9.1 (1) 45.5 (5) 45.5 (5)

Total 54 72.2 (39) 11.1 (6) 16.7 (9)

*Figures in parenthesis indicates the number of school

Source: Field Survey

To note an important point, all the schools under Madrasa Education, Madrasa Siksha Kendra

and NCLP studied in the project reported to have been providing the MDM on Saturdays.

The analysis provided above clearly shows that while the issue of coverage has largely been

sorted out, the problem of maintaining regularity in the programme has come up as a major

challenge. The various forms of interruptions in the programme basically make the question

coverage completely abortive. As to what causes this interruption is linked both with the

operational aspects of the MDM as well as the overall performances of the schools. The

following sections will be devoted to on analyzing the various connections and interconnections.

   

26  

4. Arrangemental Aspects

The initial problems of arranging the Mid-day Meal in schools, such as building a kitchen shed,

deciding upon the honorarium of the cook and so on, have largely been resolved. Yet, many of

the important arrangemental problems continue to hinder this programme in quite a number of

schools. This section deals with some of the major problems involved in the arrangement of the

MDM programme.

4.1. Engagement of Cook cum Helper

Appointment of cooks was one of the major components in the process of making the Mid-day

meal a success. Different methods have been adopted to deal with this task. While in most of the

schools of Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri Self Help Groups (SHGs) comprising women

members have been devolved with the responsibility of cooking, in Kolkata cooking was mainly

being done by the Neighbourhood Committee (NHC), which can be taken as a variant of SHG

and NGOs. These apart, we have come across individual cooks engaged independently by the

schools (CEI), mainly in Kolkata. (See table-4.1). The majority of cooks appointed by the

schools were women, but the picture was different for the Non-Government Organizations

(NGO) who generally engaged men for cooking and delivery. Since NGOs constituted 50

percent of the total Mid-day Meal providers in Kolkata, the presence of men cook was quite

visible in the state capital.

Table-4.1. Distribution of schools (in %) with respect to the type of service providers engaged for MDM*

District No. of schools introduced MDM SHG/NHC CEI NGO Others

1 2 3 4 5 6

Kolkata 90 30.0 (27) 16.7 (15) 50.0 (45) 3.3 (3)

Murshidabad 99 89.9 (89) 10.1 (10) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0)

Malda 99 97.0 (96) 3.0 (3) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0)

Jalpaiguri 100 94.0 (94) 6.0 (6) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0)

Total 388 78.9 (306) 8.8 (34) 11.6 (45) 0.8 (3)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school;

Source: Field Survey

27  

The SHGs and individual cooks engaged in preparing the meal were usually found to cook the

food inside the school complex. The NHCs and NGOs usually prepared the meal at a central

kitchen located either inside a school or in some other place; the prepared meal being transported

to a cluster of schools to be served among the children. Availability of space for constructing

kitchen shed in Kolkata schools was a serious problem which was, to a large extent, removed

through the operation of central kitchen run by the NHCs and NGOs.7 However, there was a

basic difference between the functioning of the NHCs and NGOs: while the NHCs are localized

bodies constituting of women, the NGOs did not necessarily have such organizational structure.

The cooks preparing the food by the NHCs were women; it was just reverse in the case of NGOs

who run the delivery of the food in the MDM programme.

When it came to the appointment of cooks a serious problem surfaced in Murshidabad, Malda

and Jalpaiguri. In many schools of Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri more than one SHG were

engaged for cooking the meal for the same school.8 In such schools each SHG usually worked

for a certain period in a year taking turns. For example, single SHG-run MDM was in operation

in 35 percent of the schools in Jalpaiguri. This meant in nearly two-third of the schools more

than one SHG were engaged in cooking. Pictures in Murshidabad and Malda were not very

different, though the proportion of multiple SHG run MDM was slightly lower than the

Jalpaiguri figure. (See figure-4.1).9 There were some schools in these districts that went to the

extent of engaging more than 12 SHGs for preparing the meal. This meant that none of the SHGs

could be provided with work for even for a month. Such practice was bound to have de-

motivating impact on the SHGs and thus calls forth a concrete policy framework pertaining to

the appointment of cooks.

                                                            7 Three schools in Kolkata were provided with the meal from the central kitchens, but it was not officially declared (Service providers of column 6 in table-4.1). 8 In some schools some of the SHGs were engaged on an informal basis. 9 For details, see table-6 in Appendix-II.

 

Figure-

school i

In some

the syst

one gro

themsel

crisis of

cooking

working

2013. R

So it tur

these tw

absente

Discrim

There w

prepare

same sc

4.1. Distrib

in Murshida

Source: Fie

e schools of

tem did not

oup on the

lves the res

f kitchen an

g space. It b

g each for s

Reportedly t

rned into a

wo absente

ee groups, it

mination wa

were other

ed by differe

chool had to

Engaged m

bution of sc

abad, Malda

eld Survey (

f Malda and

t even follow

e same day

ponsibility

nd cooking

became a s

separate cla

two SHGs c

serious pro

ee groups.

t was decide

as certainly

problems

ent groups

o unwillingl

Engaged on

Engaged two

more than two

chools (in %

a and Jalpai

(responses o

d Jalpaiguri

w the turn b

y. In many

of preparin

devices in t

ource of pr

asses in Cha

cooking in t

blem as to w

In order to

ed that cook

averted, bu

as well. Fo

were bound

ly undergo t

0

ne SHG

o SHGs

o SHGs

28 

%) with res

iguri district

of service pr

i, where mu

basis; rathe

y schools S

ng meals for

the school a

roblem for

ar Sujapur H

this school

who would

o avoid dis

king should

ut only at th

or example

d to be diffe

this discrim

20 40

14.6

19.1

14.6

15.6

35

25.5

3

Schools in p

spect to the

t

roviders)

ultiple SHG

er the meal

SHGs were

r different g

as well as co

the children

High Schoo

were absen

cook the m

scrimination

d be stopped

he cost of w

e, despite f

ferent in qua

mination.

60 80

66.368.8

.1

9.3

er cent

e number of

G groups we

was being p

e found to

grades of ch

onflict amo

n as well. T

ol in Malda

nt from work

meal on that

n among th

d for the ent

wider depri

following th

ality and ta

8

Jalpaig

Malda

Mursh

f SHGs eng

ere engaged

prepared by

have divi

hildren. Thi

ng the SHG

There were

visited on

k on Februa

day for chi

he children

tire school o

ivation of a

he same m

ste and chil

guri

a

hidabad

gaged for a

d in the job

y more than

ded among

is led to the

Gs for better

four SHGs

February 7

ary 1, 2013

ildren under

n under the

on that day

all children

menu, meals

ldren of the

a

,

n

g

e

r

s

,

.

r

e

.

.

s

e

29  

4.2. Distribution of responsibilities other than cooking

Apart from preparing the meals cooks were found to be involved in several other activities

including cleaning utensils, buying ingredients, serving the food to the children and cleaning the

dining space. But there were some inter-district variations in this pattern. For example, in

Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri, the job of serving the meals was taken up by the cooks, but

NGOs engaged in the delivery of MDM in Kolkata were generally found to avoid this necessity.

On the other hand the NHCs and NGOs were usually found to take the responsibility of

maintaining the stock of rice in Kolkata while this practice was uncommon in the other districts.

An important problem involved in the discharge of responsibilities was the alleged involvement

of teachers responsible for buying the ingredients, maintaining accounts and so on. These

responsibilities were supposed to be carried out by the concerned groups or individuals engaged

in cooking. It is true that teachers’ involvement in these works was genuinely required during the

launching of the scheme, but continuous requirement of a section of teachers’ (the proportion

being 7 % in Kolkata to 28 % in Murshidabad 10) continuing in the same role is certainly

unfortunate (see Table 4.2 for details).

Table-4.2. Distribution of schools (in %) with respect to the variation in discharging duties of marketing*

District No. of schools introduced

MDM

Marketing by

service providers

Marketing

by teachers

Marketing

by others

Don’t

know

1 2 3 4 5 6

Kolkata 84 # 69.0 (58) 7.1 (6) 2.4 (2) 21.4 (18)

Murshidabad 99 65.7 (65) 28.3 (28) 6.1 (6) 0.0 (0)

Malda 99 77.8 (77) 19.2 (19) 3.0 (3) 0.0 (0)

Jalpaiguri 100 75.0 (75) 25.0 (25) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0)

Total 382 71.9 (275) 20.4 (78) 2.9 (11) 4.7 (18)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school; # MDM was not functional in 6 schools of Kolkata; Source: Field Survey (teachers’ responses)

                                                            10 In a considerable number of schools in Kolkata (column 6 of table-4.3) teachers were reluctant to answer about the responsibility buying ingredients.

30  

Extent of teachers’ involvement in handling the accounts of conversion cost was found to be

higher than that of buying ingredients (See table-4.3). In Murshidabad and Malda the

responsibility of maintaining accounts was mainly carried out by the teachers (in 64.6 % and

57.6% cases respectively). The degree was slightly lower (49%) in Jalpaiguri. Such

involvements appeared sometime in the form of assisting the cooks, for many of them were yet

to develop the skills required for the job, but often to keep the authority intact. In order to

gradually shift the responsibility of accounting the MDM funds were deposited in the bank

accounts of the SHGs (See table 4.4); despite this teachers’ involvement in the job, the task

remained quite substantial (See table 4.3).

Table-4.3. Distribution of schools (in %) with respect to the variation in responsibility of

maintaining accounts*

District No. of schools

introduced

MDM

Maintained

by service

provider

Maintained

by teacher

Maintained by

provider &

teacher both

Maintained

by others

Don’t

know

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Kolkata 84 # 61.9 (52) 17.6 (15) 0.0 (0) 1.2 (1) 19.0 (16)

Murshidabad 99 34.3 (34) 64.6 (64) 0.0 (0) 1.0 (1) 0.0 (0)

Malda 99 38.4 (38) 57.6 (57) 0.0 (0) 4.0 (4) 0.0 (0)

Jalpaiguri 100 51.0 (51) 40.0 (40) 9.0 (9) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0)

Total 382 45.8 (175) 46.1 (176) 2.4 (9) 1.6 (6) 4.2 (16)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school; # MDM was not functional in 6 schools of

Kolkata;

Source: Field Survey (teachers’ responses)

It was only in Kolkata where lesser number of teachers was found to be involved in purchase of

materials and handling the conversion cost. This was so because of the structure of the delivery

of the programme, which has been devolved, to a large extent, in the hands of NHCs and NGOs

who have even relieved the teachers from maintaining the registers of stock of rice.

31  

Table-4.4. Distribution of schools (in %) according to the variation in deposition of conversion cost* 

District No. of schools

introduced MDM #

Conversion cost deposited in the name of

Service provider

Head teacher

school SLMC/ VEC

Don’t know

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Kolkata 84 48.8 (41) 1.2 (1) 15.5 (13) 0.0 (0) 34.5 (29)

Murshidabad 97 41.2 (40) 42.3 (41) 13.4 (13) 2.1 (2) 1.0 (1)

Malda 99 60.6 (60) 23.2 (23) 16.2 (16) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0)

Jalpaiguri 100 55.0 (55) 15.0 (15) 13.0 (13) 17.0 (17) 0.0 (0)

Total 380 51.5 (196) 21.1 (80) 14.5 (55) 5.0 (19) 7.9 (30)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school; # MDM was not functional in 6 schools of

Kolkata and teachers of two schools in Murshidabad, where MDM was introduced few days

before the survey, did not respond;

Source: Field Survey (teachers’ responses)

The Central Government guidelines pertaining to the implementation of the MDM, issued in

2006, suggested that the teachers should under no circumstances be assigned any responsibility

that would impede teaching and learning.11 As found by the survey, complying with the said

guideline was still a distant reality and requirement of teachers’ involvement in the nitty-gritty of

the programme reportedly continued to hamper the academic activities particularly in the schools

which have lesser number of teachers than that was required; such schools were quite common

rather than being rare. For example, in 33.3, 49.4 and 20.7 percent of the surveyed primary

schools in Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri respectively the pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) was

more than 30. In some of the schools of Murshidabad the responsibility of handling conversion

cost was reportedly redirected to the teachers. That the teachers’ overall involvement in the

programme is a genuine necessity is above any doubt and complete separation of the teachers

from the programme would be counterproductive. On the other hand keeping them busy in the

                                                            11 National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education, 2006 (Mid-day Meal Scheme), Guidelines: Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of School Education and Literacy, Government of India, Mid-Day Meal Scheme, http://mdm.nic.in/

32  

daily nitty-gritty would not only exert a negative impact on teaching and learning but also

impede the much required social process of empowerment that the programme has offered to the

society.

4.3. Provision of Kitchen cum Store

Absence of kitchen was a major obstacle for the programme during its launching phase between

2003 and 2004. Only two out of the 26 primary schools in the surveyed districts brought under

the programme in 2003 had kitchen sheds. There has been a major change in the situation now:

kitchen sheds were found to be constructed in 69 percent of the primary schools surveyed under

the project (See Table-4.5). The progress was better in Jalpaiguri district (87.8%), where not a

single school had kitchen shed in 2003. Murshidabad and Malda have also seemingly done well.

The mode of implementation in Kolkata, however, did not allow any comparison based on the

availability of kitchen shed, for in most schools of Kolkata the meal was being prepared in a

central kitchen.12 It is important to note here that in Malda and Jalpaiguri the construction of

kitchen cum store took place in primary schools mainly between 2003 and 2009, while in

Murshidabad it was done mostly after 2009 (See table-4.5).

However, progress in the status of kitchen cum store in the upper primary schools was not

uniform across the districts. The MDM scheme was launched in all the upper primary schools in

2008-09 across the state. Now between 2009 and the date of survey the proportion of upper

primary schools having kitchen cum store has increased by 31 percent and 50 percent in

Murshidabad and Malda respectively. But, there was decrease of 38 percent in the corresponding

figure for Jalpaiguri (See table-4.5). This means that while in Murshidabad and Malda there has

been simultaneous effort of constructing the kitchen cum store along with the launching of the

scheme, Jalpaiguri did not follow the same pattern. Also, the overall status of kitchen cum store

in the upper primary schools of Jalpaiguri was found to be very poor.

                                                            12 Since in the initial phases individual schools in Kolkata had individual kitchen, share of schools with kitchen was much higher than what was found now. As a result of the change in mode of implementation some of the schools in Kolkata still had the kitchen sheds constructed earlier but not in use as the food was being provided from central kitchens. The kitchen of the primary school at 11B Gouribari Lane, Kolkata-700004 managed by KMC had been used for cooking MDM until Iskon Food Relief Foundation started providing in 2012 the meal in the school from a central kitchen located in North Kolkata (Bagbazar) and built by KMC.

 

Table-4

constru

District

1

Kolkata

Murshid

Malda

Jalpaigur

Total

* Percent

introduct

construct

for the in

6 and 7).

Source:

Figure-

4.5. Distrib

ction of kitc

At 2

2

50.

dabad 14.3

0.0

ri 0.0

7.7

tage of kitche

tion of the MD

tion of kitchen

nitial phases (2

#Figures in p

: Field Surv

4.2. Status o

Source: Fie

0102030405060708090

Scho

ols i

n pe

r ce

ntbution of s

chen-cum-s

2003 U

3

0 (1) 15

3 (1) 41

(0) 43

(0) 54

(2) 44

en shed has be

DM. Few of th

n shed in thei

2003 and 200

parenthesis ind

vey (teacher

of kitchen-c

eld Survey (

16.7

schools (th

store (in %)

Primary#

Upto 2009

5.8 (3)

1.3 (26)

3.8 (32)

4.5 (42)

4.4 (103)

een calculated

he respondent

r schools; hen

9). However t

dicate number

s’ responses

cum-store in

(teachers’ re

84.8

33 

hat introdu

*

Till survey

4

14.3 (9)

88.5 (69)

74.1 (60)

87.8 (72)

69.1 (210)

d with respect

s could not m

nce those scho

this did not ha

rs of school ha

s) 

n the school

esponses)

69.786

uced MDM

Ot

y Upto 2

5

0.0 (0)

40.0 (2)

0.0 (0)

54.5 (6)

32.0 (8)

to the numbe

mention the yea

ools were not

ave any effect

aving kitchen

ls that intro

6.0

M) with res

ther categor

009 Till

6

22.2

) 71.4

50.0

) 16.7

) 29.3

r of schools w

ar of introduct

considered w

t on the final

shed.

duced MDM

Kitchen-cumavailable

spect to th

ries#

l survey

7

2 (6)

4 (15)

0 (9)

7 (14)

3 (44) 6

with their resp

tion of MDM

while calculati

calculation (S

M (in %)

m-store

he year of

All#

Till survey

7

16.7 (15)

84.8 (84)

69.7 (69)

86.0 (86)

65.5 (254)

pective year of

or the year of

ng the figures

See, column 4

f

f

f

s

,

34  

Though combined figures of primary and upper primary categories show a better picture of the

schools having the kitchen cum store, it is worrying to find a considerable proportion of schools

running the programme without this infrastructure. Malda had the highest percentage of such

schools (29.3 %). Corresponding figures for Murshidabad and Jalpaiguri were 14 percent each.

(See table-7a of Appendix-II). Such unprepared schools were found to face several difficulties

while preparing the meal. Another important observation relates to the discrimination based on

the management type of schools: while schools run under the Department of School Education

had lesser number of schools without kitchen shed, corresponding figure pertaining to the

schools run by the Department of Panchayat & Rural Development was quite appalling (See

table-4.6). As shown in table 4.6 this difference was highest in Malda where 45.5 percent schools

managed by Panchayat & Rural Development had no kitchen shed at the time of inquiry; in

contrast, only 20.8 percent schools run under the School Education Department were found not

to have this important infrastructure.

Table-4.6. Variation in proportion of schools (in %), with respect to management, in Murshidabad, Malda

and Jalpaiguri that had no kitchen shed at the time of survey but providing MDM*

District School Education Department

Panchayat & Rural Development All

No. of

schools

Schools without

kitchen shed

No. of

schools

Schools without

kitchen shed

No. of

schools

Schools without

kitchen shed

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Murshidabad 64 10.9 (7) 28 14.3 (4) 99 14.0 (14)

Malda 72 20.8 (15) 22 45.5 (10) 99 29.3 (29)

Jalpaiguri 67 10.4 (7) 29 13.8 (4) 100 14.0 (14)

Total 203 14.3 (29) 79 22.8 (18) 298 (19.1) 57

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school;

Source: Field Survey

Kitchen-less schools were found to arrange the cooking under temporary sheds or tents.

Obviously, the process involved the risk of contamination of the food. While 43 percent and 41

percent of such schools in Murshidabad and Malda respectively were found to prepare the meal

35  

under temporary shed or tent, in Jalpaiguri the degree was lesser 29 percent (See table-4.7).

Surprisingly, in Kolkata too, cooking was found to take place under temporary shed.

Amlitola Sishu Siksha Kendra is a primary level school managed by Department of Panchayat

& Rural Development and situated at Kaliachak I block in Malda district. The school had no

school building except a small open shade made of tin. There was no separate kitchen shed in

this school. Cooking of the meal and teaching and learning were found to be done

simultaneously in a shared space. Not only did it involve physical risk for the children for they

sat beside the fire but was also found to be a distraction for their studies as activities related

with the preparation of food diverted their attention. The cooking (under the stairs) at Pirojpur

Idgatola Primary School in Malda involved the risk of fire for neither was the place separated

from the main building nor was there any fire-extinguishing device. The problem of safety and

security, owing to the unavailability of kitchen, was found in a considerable proportion of

schools in Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri districts.

In some such schools the meal was found to be prepared under the open sky. Harijon Basti Sishu

Siksha Kendra under Jalpaiguri Municipal area was just one example. Proportion of schools

preparing the meal under open sky was 29 percent in Jalpaiguri, 17 percent in Malda and 7

percent in Murshidabad.

Table-4.7. Variation in alternative arrangement of cooking place (in %) for the schools in Murshidabad,

Malda and Jalpaiguri districts that had no kitchen shed at the time of survey but providing MDM

District No. of school

without kitchen but

providing MDM

Room of

the school

Temporary

shed/tent/

alcove

Open air Adjacent

school

Places

other than

school

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Murshidabad 14 7.1 (1) 42.9 (6) 7.1 (1) 28.6 (4) 14.3 (2)

Malda 29 17.2 (5) 41.4 (12) 17.2 (5) 10.3 (3) 10.3 (3)

Jalpaiguri 14 21.4 (3) 28.6 (4) 28.6 (4) 7.1 (1) 7.1 (1)

Total 57 15.8 (9) 38.6 (22) 17.5 (10) 14.0 (8) 10.5 (6)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school;

Source: Field Survey

36  

Again, in 17 percent and 21 percent of the schools in Malda and Jalpaiguri respectively, cooking

was taking place in class room or other rooms of the schools. In some of the kitchen-less schools

of Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri food was being prepared by the SHG members or others

at their homes and then brought to the schools to be served. The practice was also not uncommon

in Kolkata, particularly in the cases where MDM was being run by an NGO.

The place of cooking MDM for the children of Hemanta Sishu Siksha Kendra and another

school at Gardenreach area was quite narrow (about 10 sq ft). It was attached to the room of the

cook. It was situated in a slum at Gardenreach area. The room was dark with poor visibility

which made the cooking not only difficult but also risky. The cook was entrusted with the

responsibility of cooking meal for those two schools by Gardenreach Bangla Basti Academic

Development Society functioning under the umbrella NGO, City Level Programme of Action

for Street and Working Children (CLPOA).

Construction of the kitchen does not however ensure cooking in it. For example, cooks of a Sishu

Siksha Kendra in Chanchal I block of Malda were found to prepare the meal outside for they

found it impossible to cook inside the kitchen constructed for the purpose as it did not have any

smoke-exhaust system. In a school of Beldanga II of Murshidabad cooks complained that the

kitchen was so narrow that they could not work inside it and were forced to prepare the meal in

an open shed (See Table-2.5 in Appendix-III).

Crisis of space in the kitchen was a serious problem reportedly encountered by the cooks. The

kitchen-cum-stores built in the schools were small in size which made it difficult enough to store

the food grains and other ingredients there.13 As a result, most of the schools stored the rice in

the classrooms or some other places.14 As can be seen in Table-4.8 storing of rice was done in

the kitchen-cum-store only in few cases (8%, 12% and 21% in Murshidabad, Malda and

Jalpaiguri respectively). The proportion of schools using kitchen-cum-store for storing rice was

highest in Kolkata (46.7%) although it was very low in absolute terms.

                                                            13 The norm for kitchen-cum-store laid down by the Central Government is 20 sq. m. plinth area for the schools having children up to 100. For every addition of children up to 100 the plinth area will be added by 4 sq. m. 14 Some schools did not store rice in the kitchen-cum-store due to security reason.

37  

Table-4.8. Distribution of schools (in %) that had kitchen-cum-store at the time of survey but

storing rice in other places*

District Total

no. of

school

Kitchen

cum

Store

Class room

Office

room

Other

room

Other School

Places

other than

school

Others Don’t

know#

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Kolkata 15 46.7 (7) 6.7 (1)

0.0 (0) 20.0 (3)

6.7 (1) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 20.0 (3)

Murshidabad 84 8.3 (7) 27.4 (23)

15.5 (13)

35.7 (30)

0.0 (0) 4.8 (4) 8.3 (7) 0.0 (0)

Malda 69 11.6 (8) 37.7 (26)

26.1 (18)

17.4 (12)

0.0 (0) 5.8 (4) 1.4 (1) 0.0 (0)

Jalpaiguri 86 20.9 (18)

25.6 (22)

22.1 (19)

23.3 (20)

3.5 (3) 4.7 (4) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0)

Total 254 15.7 (40)

28.3 (72)

19.7 (50)

25.6 (65)

1.6 (4) 4.7 (12) 3.1 (8) 1.2 (3)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school; # Kitchen-cum-stores in few schools of

Kolkata was not used for MDM programme. MDM was supplied there from central kitchens

situated in other places than the school.

Source: Field Survey

It needs a mention here that the central kitchens built by the Kolkata Municipal Corporations

were found to be spacious enough for both cooking and storing.

The central kitchen built by Kolkata Municipal Corporation at Tangra (East Kolkata) had two

rooms. Disha Para Samiti, an NHC, was engaged in cooking the meal for around 1250 children

of 23 primary schools. The room used for cooking and storing was considerably large. There

was arrangement of water near the cooking place. Rooms were sufficiently lit and the exhaust

system was quite good. Fire-extinguisher was also available there.

However the problems related with the kitchen-cum-store were not found to be confined to space

or exhaust system: some of the kitchens were found to be at the verge of dilapidation. The tin

roof of kitchen-cum-store of Baghmara Primary school at Harishchandrapur I block in Malda

district or of LWC Primary school at Madarihat block in Jalpaiguri district was seen to be

38  

completely damaged thus making it impossible for the cooks to work there during rainy seasons.

Therefore, while construction of the kitchen cum store is certainly a central requirement of the

programme it is even more important to see that (a) they were built scientifically, with sufficient

space and exhaust system and safety measures, and (b) regular maintenance of the constructed

infrastructure also needs to be ensured.

4.4. Deficiency of kitchen devices

During our field surveys we were reported only about the deficiency of the utensils necessary for

cooking and serving.15 However, the extent of shortage of utensils was quite high, particularly in

Jalpaiguri (68%); the problem was found to be somewhat lesser in degree in Murshidabad (48%)

and Malda (43%). In Kolkata the problem was not found to be significant (16.4 %). (See table-

4.9).

Table-4.9. Variation in responses of service providers (in %) with respect to the availability of

necessary utensils*

District Total responses Having necessary utensils Did not have necessary utensils

1 2 3 4

Kolkata 55 # 83.6 (46) 16.4 (9)

Murshidabad 99 56.6 (56) 43.4 (43)

Malda 99 52.5 (52) 47.5 (47)

Jalpaiguri 100 32.0 (32) 68.0 (68)

Total 353 52.7 (186) 47.3 (167)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of responses; # some of the respondents in Kolkata

were common for 28 schools served from central kitchens; one of the respondents declined to

answer the question related to this.

Source: Field Survey

Shortage of different kinds of utensils was reported in all the districts (See table-9 in Appendix-

II). The cook cum helpers working in Patkapara Chabagan Sishu Siksha Kendra situated at

                                                            15 Few teachers and cooks, however, raised the issue of container necessary for the storage of food-grains.

39  

Alipurduar I block in Jalpaiguri district told the investigators that they were bringing pot and

bucket from home as the school did not have them. They further complained that some of the old

and unusable utensils had not been replaced with required new ones (See table-2.6 in Appendix-

III).

4.5. Provision of water

As per the State Report Cards 2011-12 the facility of drinking water was available in 97.2

percent schools in West Bengal.16 However, our survey found some major gaps in this regard. In

Malda, drinking water was available inside the schools in 85 percent cases; in 16 percent schools

the facility was available adjacent to the schools (See table-4.10). The situation at Murshidabad

was similar to Malda, but in Kolkata 12 percent of the schools had no drinking water facility

either in the school or somewhere adjacent to the school. Jalpaiguri was found to be in between

Kolkata and Malda-Murshidabad. (See table-4.10).

Table-4.10. Distribution of schools (in %) with respect to the location of drinking water for children 

District No. of school

introduced MDM

within school Adjacent to school Neither in school nor

adjacent to school

1 2 3 4 5

Kolkata 90 74.4 (67) 13.3 (12) 12.2 (11)

Murshidabad 99 84.8 (84) 11.1 (11) 4.0 (4)

Malda 99 83.8 (83) 16.2 (16) 0.0 (0)

Jalpaiguri 100 79.0 (79) 19.0 (19) 2.0 (2)

Total 388 80.7 (313) 14.9 (58) 4.4 (17)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school

Source: Field Survey (teachers’ responses)

As regards the source of drinking water, while in Kolkata majority of the schools had tap water

facility (81.1%) in the three other districts tube well was found to be the main source of water

                                                            16 State Report Cards 2011-12, National University of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi.

40  

(See table-10 in Appendix-II). Some of the children of Kolkata (6.7%) were reportedly carrying

drinking water from home.

Source of water for cooking appeared to follow the pattern found in the case of drinking water

(See table-11 in Appendix-II). Notably, dug-well water was being used for cooking in 8 percent

of the schools in Jalpaiguri. Although in most cases water for cooking was available inside or

near the school, in some areas the cooks had to fetch it from a distance which was certainly a

cause of concern (See table-4.11).

Table-4.11. Variation in responses of service providers (in %) with respect to the distance of

source of water brought for cooking MDM*

District Total responses of

unavailability of water for

cooking inside kitchen/school

complex #

Source of water

within 100 m

Source of water

more than 100

m but less than

500 m

Source of

water more

than 500 m

1 2 3 4 5

Kolkata 21.4 (12) 10.7 (6) 10.7 (6) 0.0 (0)

Murshidabad 10.1 (10) 6.1 (6) 4.0 (4) 0.0 (0)

Malda 14.1 (14) 10.1 (10) 3.0 (3) 1.0 (1)

Jalpaiguri 16.0 (16) 13.0 (13) 3.0 (3) 0.0 (0)

Total 14.7 (52) 9.9 (35) 4.5 (16) 0.3 (1)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of responses; # Some respondents were common for

28 schools in Kolkata as central kitchens were functional there and one respondent in Kolkata

declined to respond;

Source: Field Survey

4.6. The dining space

Dining space for cooked Mid-day Meal programme has not seemingly been considered a central

infrastructural requirement. The policy silence resulted in severe crisis of dining space that

compelled children to find a place on their own to eat the meal. In Kolkata while most of the

children took their meal inside the classrooms, in Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri children

41  

were usually seen to eat the meal at school-veranda, school-ground and other places (See table-

4.12). It becomes particularly difficult both for the children and the serving people during the

rain when they had to struggle to find a place for eating meals. Absence of dining space and

related crisis reportedly compelled the authority of Berubari Tapsili Free High School in

Jalpaiguri to stop the MDM during the rain. In some of the schools children were found to avoid

the meals when it rained. Some of the girls students of Makhna Kuilpara K S High School

situated at Harishchandrapur I block in Malda were not sharing the MDM as they did not find

suitable place for eating the meal.

Table-4.12. Distribution of schools (in %) with respect to the dining space for eating MDM *

District No. of school

introduced

MDM

Class

room

Veranda Open field/

school premise

Separate

dining place

Others

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Kolkata 84 # 77.4 (65) 13.1 (11) 6.0 (5) 2.4 (2) 1.2 (1)

Murshidabad 99 15.2 (15) 68.7 (68) 11.1 (11) 1.0 (1) 4.0 (4)

Malda 99 12.1 (12) 68.7 (68) 15.2 (15) 3.0 (3) 1.0 (1)

Jalpaiguri 100 13.0 (13) 57.0 (57) 23.0 (23) 5.0 (5) 2.0 (2)

Total 382 27.5 (105) 53.4 (204) 14.1 (54) 2.9 (11) 2.1 (8)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school; # MDM was not functional in 6 schools of

Kolkata;

Source: Field Survey (teachers’ responses)

But most importantly the use of veranda or school premise or such open place for eating the

MDM has serious implication on children’s health. Maintaining cleanliness of such eating places

was found to be near impossible for various reasons discussed in details in section 6. The

Standing Committee on Education of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly has recently pointed

out the urgent necessity of providing dining spaces in the schools.

42  

Few of the schools in the studied districts were found to arrange a separate dining space, but

replication of such voluntary efforts was quite limited as many of the schools did not have

required space or fund for making this arrangement on their own.

While taking their mid-day meal, a considerable number of children in Alipurduar High School

of Jalpaiguri were found to use the kitchen which was not used for cooking. The MDM was

being prepared in a class room not in use for teaching and learning. Children ate the meal

standing in front of the racks where they kept their plates. While the space was not sufficient to

accommodate all the children and some had to eat outside. The racks of the kitchen were found

to be useful at least for sections of the children. There was a sink at the back exterior of the

‘dining space’ to make the post meal washing easy.

4.7. Arrangement of plate for taking meal

Although unavailability of plates in the school for taking mid-day meal was never appeared to be

a serious problem for the functioning of MDM, but sometime this had had a negative impact on

children’s availing the meal. Usually the children were seen to bring plates from home,

forgetting which often resulted in depriving the child of the meal. In Dhupguri Mouza Primary

school of Jalpaiguri some children were found not taking the MDM as they did not bring plate on

the day of visit. Sometimes the children, particularly of upper primary schools, were found to

feel shy to bring plates with them. That was why Sal leaf was arranged by the cooks of G B S

Junior High Madrasha in Malda. To avoid this problem, teachers of Alipur Madrasha Siksha

Kendra situated at Kaliachak I block in Malda purchased plates for all the children. There were

some other schools in the districts, which were found to have arranged buying plates for all the

children (See table-1.3 in Appendix-III for details). According to some parents, children put the

wet plates along with the books which get damaged. Hence provision of plates in the school

should be considered a necessity.

4.8. Supply of rice

We have discussed in the previous section that interruptions in supply of rice was a reason

behind discontinuing the MDM in some schools. Occasional as it was, the problem was found

across the studied districts, although with varying degree. In Aurobinda Vidyapith Sishu Siksha

Kendra in Kolkata it was reported that interruptions in supply of rice had caused to stop the

43  

MDM for the last 10 days preceding the day of visit. The teacher of Latashi Prathamik Vidyalay

in Harishchandrapur II block, Malda complained that lack of proper system of supply caused the

interruption which led them to stop the programme. According to him, sometimes rice was

supplied without any prior requisition while at other time the supply was not made despite

submitting the requisition.17 The teacher of Raghab Bati Prathamik Vidyalay Habibpur block in

the same district complained that rice was usually supplied after a gap of 10 to 15 days following

the submission of utilization certificate. Nevertheless, the number of such cases was few and it

should not be difficult for the department to tackle the problem. On the other hand, what was

certainly a problem related to rice was the problem of storing. As presented in table-4.13, the

problem of storage occurred most in in Malda (26%) and Jalpaiguri (22%). The degree was

somewhat lesser in Murshidabad (16%) and Kolkata (13%). While constraint of space was seen

to be a major reason behind the storage problem for some schools, some sections of teachers

related this with the faulty supply system, where two months’ allotment was supplied at a time.

(See table-2.10 in Appendix-III).

Table-4.13. Distribution of schools facing problem of storing rice for large amount

District Number of school

introduced MDM

Number of school facing

problem of storing rice for a

long

Proportion of school in %

facing problem of storing

rice for a long

1 2 3 4

Kolkata 84 1 1.2 *

Murshidabad 99 16 16.2

Malda 99 26 26.3

Jalpaiguri 100 22 22.0

Total 382 65 17.0

* Service providers were the responsible person for dealing rice for most of the kitchens in

Kolkata and 13 percent of them reported the problem of storing rice for a long period;

Source: Field Survey (teachers’ responses)

                                                            17 Requisition was reportedly made to the dealer by telephone in some schools.

44  

However, the storage problem did not seem to occur only because of bulk supply; another source

of the problem was perhaps the under-utilization of rice within the stipulated period. We have

seen in the previous section that the average rate of attendance of children in the schools was

also considerably lower than the number for which allotment was made. While the allotted

conversion cost was required to come to term with the rising prices, the allotment of rice in some

cases became excess.18 In some of the schools rice was being properly stored in drums or other

covered containers so as to protect it from insects and pests. But, in most of the schools,

particularly with substantial enrolment, it was found difficult. In most of the schools and the

stock was stored in plastic sacks or gunny bags offering open invitation to insects, pests and

other sorts of damaging agents.19

As regards the quality of the rice supplied majority of the teachers in the surveyed districts,

except in Kolkata, had favourable opinion, though number of complaining teachers was not

insignificant.

4.9. Conversion cost and honorarium of cook

The conversion cost and the honorarium of cook was found to be a matter of complaint since the

launching of the cooked MDM scheme in our country. It has been noted that the conversion cost

and honorarium of the cook was very low, also there was extraordinary delay in the payment of

conversion cost and honorarium of cooks. There has been an enhancement in the honorarium of

the cook but the terrible rise in price has reportedly made this enhancement irrelevant. And, the

problem of low conversion cost has perhaps increased rather than being resolved.20 The issue of

delay in payment was also found to continue to a large extent.

We have discussed earlier that in some schools the conversion cost was found to be deposited in

the name of service providers, in other schools it was done in the name of teachers (See table-

4.4). Considering this unevenness, while analyzing the problem of delay in payment we have                                                             18 The amount of rice supplied for Prantapalli Balika Vidyalaya in 2011 was reportedly 75 quintal which was not exhausted till the day of visit (08.02.2013). The total enrolment for class V, VI, VII and VIII was 170 on the day of visit while the rate of attendance of children was 72.4 per cent for that very day. 19 Rice was found to be kept on bench in some schools. However bench is not available in most of the primary schools in rural areas. 20 The honorarium of the cook at the time of visit was Rs 1000 per month for children up to 25 and Rs 2000 for children up to 100 but more than 25. Next to these two slabs an addition of Rs 1000 per month for every addition of children up to 100. On the other hand the conversion cost per child per day was Rs 3.33 and Rs 4.65 for the primary and upper primary children respectively.

45  

disaggregated the responses in accordance with the recipients of money, i.e. service providers

and teachers. As gathered from the responses of the service providers, payments made to them

did not follow a uniform pattern across the districts. For example, while in substantial number of

cases in Kolkata and Malda time taken to make payments varied between 30 to 60 days of

submission of the bills while the corresponding figure in Murshidabad was 30 days or less. (See

table-4.14). Again, for majority of the service providers of Jalpaiguri the time taken for receiving

payments was at least 90 days after submission of bills (See table-4.14).

Table-4.14. Variation in responses of service providers (in %) with respect to the time taken for

the payment of conversion cost after the submission of bill *

District Number of

responses #

within 30

days

between 31

to 60 days

between 61

to 90 days

After 90 days or

more

1 2 3 4 5 6

Kolkata 32 28.1 (9) 46.9 (15) 21.9 (7) 3.1 (1)

Murshidabad 30 36.7 (11) 30.0 (9) 16.7 (5) 16.7 (5)

Malda 11 36.4 (4) 54.5 (6) 9.1 (1) 0.0 (0)

Jalpaiguri 46 15.2 (7) 13.0 (6) 8.7 (4) 63.0 (29)

Total 119 26.1 (31) 30.3 (36) 14.3 (17) 29.4 (35)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of responses; # some of the respondents could not

mention the interval of payment, hence, excluded from the total number of responses;

Source: Field Survey

However, the responses of the teachers regarding payment of conversion cost differed from the

responses of service providers in Malda. While the highest proportion of teachers in Malda

reported that the payment of conversion cost was made within 30 days of submission of bill

(35.3 %, see table-4.15), the highest proportion of service providers in this district reported that

the payment was made between 30-60 days after submission of bills (54.5 %, see table-4.14).

The responses of teachers in Jalpaiguri district were also found to be somewhat different from

the response of service providers. In Jalpaiguri, 30 percent of the teachers said that time taken to

46  

deliver the payment was between 60 to 90 days of submission of bills, but the time was more

than 90 days for another 28 percent of the teachers. Murshidabad seemed to be in a better

position since a majority of the teachers and service providers reported to have received the

payment within 30 days of submission of bills and Jalpaiguri appeared to be in the worst position

in this regard.

Table-4.15. Variation in responses of teachers (in %) with respect to the time taken for the

payment of conversion cost after the submission of bill*

District Number of

responses #

within 30

days

between 31

to 60 days

between 61 to 90

days

After 90 days or

more

1 2 3 4 5 6

Kolkata 13 30.8 (4) 30.8 (4) 7.7 (1) 30.8 (4)

Murshidabad 55 32.7 (18) 25.5 (14) 18.2 (10) 14.5 (8)

Malda 34 35.3 (12) 23.5 (8) 29.4 (10) 11.8 (4)

Jalpaiguri 40 17.5 (7) 25.0 (10) 30.0 (12) 27.5 (11)

Total 142 28.9 (41) 25.4 (36) 23.2 (33) 19.0 (27)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of responses; # Some of the respondents could not

tell the interval of payment, hence, excluded from the total number of responses;

Source: Field Survey

However it was clear that all service providers had faced some problems in receiving the

payments. On 8 February 2013, the respondent of GBS Junior High Madrasha situated at

Kaliachak III block in Malda said to us, that they had not yet received any payment against their

bills of conversion cost since the inception of the programme in the Madrasha in April, 2012.

Although such instances of delay were not found commonly,21 even a gap of two or three months

in making the payment of conversion cost certainly had an adverse effect on the programme.

                                                            21 The respondent of Gardenreach Bangla Basti Academic Development Society functioning under umbrella organization CLPOA reported that they were yet to receive the payment against the bills of conversion cost submitted six months ago.

 

Figure-

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2012).

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4.3. Respon

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Source: Fie

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He was anx

It needs a m

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Kolk

Murshida

Ma

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0.0

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9

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But the exte

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20.0 40.

25.0

33

9.1

28.2

32

Responses in

47 

ervice provid

submission

he service p

her. But it w

t receiving

was visited

ills for the

might not a

roceries bill

ce payment

ension of th

problem for

was concern

e vocal again

ckchak blo

M and the h

gaged in a v

SHG were n

und in the stud

0 60.0

3.4

38.5

.7

41.2

n per cent

ders (in %)

of bill

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was too hard

any payme

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last three m

agree anym

l always rem

s to the serv

his credit sy

the functio

ned, delay i

nst the irreg

ck in Mald

head teache

verbal confli

not receivin

died districts w

80.0

71.7

with respec

appeared th

d to continu

ent. When

ember, 2012

months (Sep

more to prov

mained unpa

vice provide

ystem for s

oning of the

in payment

gularity in m

da, the pres

er of the sch

ict on the is

ng the due h

who had report

Proportion payment ofafter 60 day

Proportion reporting pconversionor more

ct to the tim

hat sometim

ue the progr

Dangapara

2, the teach

ptember to

vide the ing

aid for at le

ers who had

everal mon

e programm

seemed to

making thei

ident of the

hool were fo

ssue of the

honorarium

tedly received

of teacher repf conversion cys or more

of service propayment of n cost after 60

me taken for

mes payment

ramme for a

a Prathamik

her reported

November

gredients on

east a month

d to procure

nths, as was

me. As far as

be taken to

r payments

e Self Help

ound during

honorarium

for the last

d any advance

porting cost

ovider

days

r

t

a

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,

n

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s

s

o

.

p

g

m

t

e

48  

11 months. Grievance on not getting their honorarium for a long time was shown by many of the

cooks in the studied districts.

It is clear from the above discussion that while there has been considerable progresses made in

various aspects of the supply side of the programme, there remained serious lacuna pertaining

particularly to the regularization of the payments of conversion cost and the honorarium of the

cooks, both of which bear central importance for the programme.

 

Mid-day meal being cooked in the kitchen-cum-store of Purba Khairbari BFP School

in Jalpaiguri district

   

49  

5. Quality of Mid-day Meal

Since the potato in the curry was not properly peeled, Ajit kumar Rai, a grade VII student of a

school in Kolkata had stopped eating the school meal. But his friend, however, had no problem

in eating it. This small incident shows the complexity involved with the qualitative aspect of the

meal: food not palatable to one was eaten easily by the other. Thanks to his solvent economic

background Ajit, provided with lunch by his parents, could afford to refuse the MDM. But many

schoolchildren are not as fortunate as Ajit. Hundreds and thousands of them in the country do not

have anything but the Mid-day meal to eat in the school. Thus refusing a meal due to its quality

or taste is almost impossible for them. Social divisions, thus, have their reflections in the

classroom. Therefore, it is not easy to make any straightforward statement based simply on the

responses of the children. Rather it needs a cross analysis of multiple issues involved with the

quality of the meal.

5.1. General acceptability of the meal

The survey found a general acceptability of the Mid-day meal among the children. Having

recognized this, it is important to note that while almost all the children in the rural areas in the

four districts were taking the school meal (96%), acceptability of the meal in the urban areas was

a bit lesser (78%). There appeared some district level variations, mainly in the urban areas.

While the level of acceptability of the meal among children of Kolkata (fully urban) and urban

Malda were 76 percent and 85 percent respectively, corresponding figures for Murshidabad and

Jalpaiguri were found to be much higher (97% in each) (See table-5.1).

 

Table-5.

District

1

Kolkata

Murshida

Malda

Jalpaigur

Total

*Figures

done for

Source:

Figure-5

taking M

The sur

meal. In

meal on

.1. Variation

R

2

-

abad 97.2 (

97.4 (

ri 93.6 (

96.1 (

s in parenthe

r one high sc

Field Survey

5.1. Distribut

MDM on the

Source: Fiel

rvey also f

n Murshidab

n the days o

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

Per

cent

of s

choo

ln in average p

ural

3

76.

(81) 97.

(76) 84.

(74) 96.

(231) 78.

esis indicate

chool in Jalpa

y

tion of scho

day of visit

d Survey

found an in

bad, Malda

of our visit

38.0

6

41.7

20.3

proportion of

Urban

4

.1 (79) 7

.1 (3) 9

.7 (7) 9

.5 (3) 9

.1 (92) 9

the number o

aiguri distric

ools (in %) w

nter-school

a and Jalpiag

in more th

7.961.4

32.138.6

0.0 0

50 

f schoolchild

All

4

76.1 (79)

97.2 (84)

96.3 (83)

93.7 (77)

91.0 (323)

of school; #

t;

with respect

variation re

guri all scho

han 60 perce

63.6

633.8

0.0 2.6

dren (in %) ta

No. of schoo

5

79

84

83

78#

324

counting of

to the varia

egarding th

ool attendin

ent cases. T

all chi

50 perchildrebut noless thchildre

aking MDM

ols provided M

children ava

ation in prop

he extent of

ng children

That the me

ldren availing

r cent or more en availing M

ot allhan 50 per cenen availing M

on the day o

MDM on the

ailing MDM

portion of sc

f children’s

were found

eal was not

g MDM

MDM

nt MDM

of visit*

day of visit

could not be

choolchildren

s taking the

d to take the

universally

e

n

e

e

y

51  

accepted in substantial number of schools was itself a problem; and the degree of this problem

was much higher in Kolkata where the picture was reverse: the feature of partial acceptability

was found in more than 60 percent cases (See figure-5.1).23 Condition in some schools in

Kolkata was even worse: in five of the visited schools not even 20 percent of the children ate the

meal. (See table-2.12 in Appendix-III).

Table-5.2. School category-wise variation in proportion of school attending children taking

MDM on the day of visit*

District Primary Other categories

Average

proportion

of children

(in per cent)

availing

MDM

Per cent of

school

where

MDM

availed by

all

children

Per cent of

school where

MDM

availed by

less than half

of the

children

Average

proportion

of children

(in per cent)

availing

MDM

Per cent

of school

where

MDM

availed

by all

children

Per cent of

school where

MDM

availed by

less than half

of the

children

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Kolkata 84.3 (56) 51.8 (29) 12.6 (7) 56.3 (23) 4.3 (1) 38.7 (9)

Murshidabad 98.2 (69) 71.0 (49) 0.0 (0) 92.4 (15) 53.3 (8) 0.0 (0)

Malda 98.1 (68) 72.1 (49) 0.0 (0) 88.6 (15) 13.3 (2) 0.0 (0)

Jalpaiguri 95.5 (66) 69.7 (46) 3.0 (2) 82.9 (11) 27.3 (3) 0.0 (0)

Total 94.5 (259) 67.1 (173) 3.5 (9) 77.1 (64) 21.5 (14) 13.8 (9)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school;

Source: Field Survey

Also, there were variations based on schools categories; acceptability of the meal was found to

be higher among the primary school children than the upper primary ones (See table-5.2).

Proportion of children availing MDM was above 95 percent in the primary schools in

Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri and 84 percent in the primary schools in Kolkata. But the

proportion of children availing MDM in the upper primary schools of Murshidabad, Malda and

                                                            23 Enrolment in some of those schools where all children were taking MDM was very low.

52  

Jalpaiguri were 92.4, 88.6 and 82.9 percent respectively; level of acceptability of the meal among

the children of upper primary schools in Kolkata was found to be much lower (56.3%) than what

was seen in other districts. In fact, in 39 percent of upper primary schools in Kolkata, the

proportion of children who availed the MDM was below 50 percent on the day of visit.

So, while it is generally important to take some immediate measures to make the food acceptable

to all children, particularly at primary level, the case of Kolkata calls forth special attention and

remedial measures, including improvement in the quality of the meal as well as initiating a

discussion among the children and their parents regarding the importance of the meal.

5.2. Children’s enjoying the MDM

On the day of our visit Khichuri was being served in a Kolkata Municipal Primary School. The

meal, cooked with reasonable amount of dal, cabbage and potatoes, appeared to be good. But, it

was their previous experiences of the poor quality of meal that made the pupils doubtful about its

taste.24 Similar reservation about the quality of meal was found among considerable number of

children in many schools across the districts. However, children were found to have lesser

complaint about the quality of rice than about the other items. As shown in table-5.3 about 60

percent of the children eating the meal in the surveyed schools in four districts said that the

quality of rice was usually good.

There was however wide inter-district variations found in the responses regarding the quality.

While proportion of children reporting quality of rice ‘usually good’ was very high in

Murshidabad (70 %), it was quite low (35%) in Kolkata. In fact, nearly one third (30%) of the

children in Kolkata reported that the quality of rice was ‘usually bad’. In Jalpaiguri too the

quality of rice as reported by a large section of the children (48%) was not ‘usually good’. That

children’s responses on the quality of rice were based on their subjective perception that drew

from their socio-economic background was true: children of solvent background tended to

respond negatively. Yet, the responses in Jalpaiguri, a district marked primarily by its socio-

economically backward population, suggest certain objective basis of the perception. In 28

percent of the schools in Jalpaiguri the quality of food grain was apparently poor; with offensive

                                                            24 Although it was a day school, the meal was readied in the morning. This perhaps made a difference in the taste. The school premises were shared by two different schools, one in the morning and the other in the day and the meal was cooked at a time, in the morning, for the children of both the schools.

53  

smell and stones the taste was more repulsive rather than being attractive (See table-6.1 in

chapter-6). During our visit stones, insects or foul smell was found in rice (food-grain) in 30%,

and 10% schools in Malda and Murshidabad respectively. In 26% kitchens in Kolkata similar

observation was made.

Table-5.3. Opinion of children (in %) availing MDM on the quality of rice and other items of

menu*

District No. of

children Rice Other Items

Usually

good

Good

bad

both

Usually

bad

No

response

Usually

good

Good

bad

both

Usually

bad

No

response

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Kolkata 363 35.0 (127)

34.7 (126)

30.3 (110)

0.0 (0) 46.6 (169)

40.8 (148)

12.7 (46)

0.0 (0)

Murshi

-dabad

474 70.0 (332)

24.1 (114)

5.5 (26) 0.4 (2) 56.8 (269)

32.5 (154)

8.6 (41) 2.1 (10)

Malda 488 68.9 (336)

28.5 (139)

2.3 (11) 0.4 (2) 56.8 (277)

38.3 (187)

3.9 (19) 1.0 (5)

Jalpai

-guri

487 52.4 (255)

43.5 (212)

3.9 (19) 0.2 (1) 43.3 (211)

51.1 (249)

4.5 (22) 1.0 (5)

Total 1812 57.9 (1050)

32.6 (591)

9.2 (166)

0.3 (5) 51.1 (926)

40.7 (738)

7.1 (128)

1.1 (20)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school;

Source: Field Survey

Level of satisfaction of children with respect to other items of the MDM was worse than their

perception on the quality of the rice. While the proportion of children reporting that the quality

of rice ‘usually good’ was 70 and 69 percent in Murshidabad and Malda respectively, figures

corresponding to the perceived quality of other items were 57 percent in each of the two districts

(See table-5.3). In Jalpaiguri the proportion of children reporting the quality of other items

‘usually good’ was only 43.3 percent against 52.4 percent for rice. Although, degree of

satisfaction over the quality of other items among children in Kolkata was higher than that over

the quality of rice, the extent of satisfaction was quite low – even less than half (47%).

54  

Children of Rammohon Sishu Vidyalay came mostly from the slums adjacent to Bidhannagar

Railway Station in Kolkata. The primary school had no building of its own. At the time of visit

it was functioning at Muraripukur Road. An NGO, HOPES, was responsible for providing the

MDM in the school. On the day of our visit the menu consisted of rice with a curry of soyabin

and potato. All the children present on that day in the school participated in the lunch but most

of them ate reluctantly and threw a major part of their share away into the bin. The ingredients

were reportedly not cooked well.

Table-5.4. Opinion of parents (in %) on the quality of rice and other items of menu reportedly

whose children availing MDM*

District No. of

Parents Rice Other Items

Usually

good

Good

bad

both

Usually

bad

No

response

Usually

good

Good

bad

both

Usually

bad

No

response

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Kolkata 339 14.5 (49)

45.7 (155)

30.4 (103)

9.4 (32) 26.3 (89) 50.1 (170)

13.9 (47)

9.4 (33)

Murshi

-dabad

470 47.0 (221)

38.5 (181)

10.9 (51)

3.6(17) 35.5 (167)

44.5 (209)

14.9 (70)

5.1 (24)

Malda 488 42.8 (209)

52.0 (254)

2.5 (12) 2.7 (13) 30.5 (149)

62.1 (303)

4.7 (23) 2.7 (13)

Jalpai

-guri

477 31.0 (148)

60.4 (288)

6.3 (30) 2.3 (11) 21.0 (100)

69.8 (333)

6.9 (33) 2.3 (11)

Total 1774 35.3 (627)

49.5 (878)

11.0 (196)

4.1 (73) 28.5 (505)

57.2 (1015)

9.8 (173)

4.6 (81)

* Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of responses;

Source: Field Survey

Responses of most of the parents on the quality of rice were mixed – ‘sometimes good,

sometimes bad’ (See table-5.4). Proportion of parents reporting the quality of rice and other

items to be ‘usually good’ was highest in Murshidabad; however it was still below 50 percent

(47% and 36% for rice and other items respectively). In Kolkata the corresponding figures were

meagre 15% and 26% respectively. In Jalpaiguri, while 31 percent parents said that the quality of

rice was usually good, only 21 percent found the quality of other items to be usually good. Thus

55  

the appreciation of parents on the quality of food was lower than what their children found it in

the schools.

However with respect to the quantity of MDM the satisfaction level of children was much higher

than the level of satisfaction for the quality of food. Quantity of the MDM (both rice and other

items) was reported to be sufficient by 76.7 percent children in the surveyed districts (See table-

5.5). Extent of satisfaction over quantity of food was highest in Kolkata (89.8%) and lowest in

Murshidabad (67%). Interestingly, in Murshidabad, extent of satisfaction over quantity was

found to be lower than that over the quality (See table 5.3 and 5.5): 14 percent children in this

district told us that the quantity of MDM (both rice and other items) was inadequate. Trend of

responses of the parents regarding the quantity of the MDM was similar to that of the opinion of

the children (See table-13 in Appendix-II).

Table-5.5. Opinion of children (in %) availing MDM on the quantity of rice and other items*

District No. of

children

Rice &

other items

both

sufficient

Rice

sufficient but

other items

not sufficient

Rice not

sufficient but

other items

sufficient

Rice & other

items both

not

sufficient

No

response

Kolkata 363 89.8 (326) 5 (18) 1.7 (6) 3.3 (12) 0.3 (1)

Murshidabad 474 66.5 (315) 14.6 (69) 4.2 (20) 14.1 (67) 0.6 (3)

Malda 488 73.6 (359) 10 (49) 10.2 (50) 5.9 (29) 0.2 (1)

Jalpaiguri 487 79.9 (389) 12.5 (61) 2.3 (11) 5.1 (25) 0.2 (1)

Total 1812 76.7 (1389) 10.9 (197) 4.8 (87) 7.3 (133) 0.3 (6)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school;

Source: Field Survey

While the number of children participating in the school lunch was very high across the districts

the level of satisfaction of the children over the quality of food did not quite follow a similar line.

A large number of children and their parents were explicitly unhappy over the quality of the meal

and some sections were not even satisfied with the quantity they were served with.

56  

5.3. Swallowing the unpalatable

Parul Sardar, mother of Shibnath Sardar of Bijoygarh Siksha Niketan in Kolkata was a domestic

worker and her husband worked as a daily wage labourer. The family had emigrated from

Sunderban area in search of livelihood options in Kolkata. A full meal in the school was so very

helpful for the poor family that the child did not mind the quality, which she knew for sure to be

bad. Eating the meal despite finding it unpalatable appeared to be a phenomenon across the

districts. Proportion of children reportedly eating MDM despite its poor quality was highest in

Jalpaiguri: roughly two third of the children said that they ate the meal despite the rice and other

items being very poor in quality. Children in Kolkata, however, were found to be comparatively

fortunate than their Jalpaiguri counterparts: the extent of compulsion of eating poor quality of

food was 39 percent (See table-5.6a & 5.6b). It is a matter of grave concern that the very socio-

economic condition that added relevance to the Mid-day Meal was being used by the system to

serve the children unpalatable food: it was the vulnerable socio-economic background of the

children, that allowed the system to take the acceptability of the meal for granted, for neither the

children nor the parents had much option to skip the meal as a protest against the poor quality.

Table-5.6a. Responses of children (in %) for eating MDM with respect to the quality of rice

District No. of

children

availing

MDM

Not

consu

-ming

Consuming

despite

poor

quality

Partially or

occasionally

consuming

Feed

others

Feed the

domestic

animal

Quality

not so

poor to

consume

No

res-

ponse

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Kolkata 363 31.4 (114)

38.6 (140) 13.8 (50) 0.6 (2) 0.0 15.7 (57) 0.0

Murshi

dabad

474 31.6 (150)

52.1 (247) 4.0 (18) 1.5 (7) 4.6 (22) 5.9 (28) 0.4 (2)

Malda 488 24.2 (118)

62.7 (306) 6.4 (31) 0.8 (4) 1.6 (8) 4.1 (20) 0.2 (1)

Jalpai

guri

487 27.7 (135)

65.1 (317) 2.5 (12) 0.0 0.0 4.5 (22) 0.2 (1)

Total 1812 28.5 (517)

55.7 (1010) 6.1 (111) 0.7 (0.7)

1.7 (30) 7.0 (127) 0.2 (4)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school;

Source: Field Survey

57  

Table-5.6b. Responses of children (in %) for eating MDM with respect to the poor quality of

items other than rice*

District No. of

children

availing

MDM

Not

consu

-ming

Consuming

despite

poor

quality

Partially or

occasionally

consuming

Feed

others

Feed the

domestic

animal

Quality

not so

poor to

consume

No

res-

ponse

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Kolkata 363 26.7 (97)

38.6 (140) 14.6 (53) 0.6 (2) 0.0 (0) 19.3 (70) 0.3 (1)

Murshi dabad

474 29.5 (140)

56.5 (268) 4.4 (21) 0.6 (3) 3.2 (15) 5.3 (25) 0.4 (2)

Malda 488 25.0 (122)

61.7 (301) 6.4 (31) 1.0 (5)

1.2 (6) 3.9 (19) 0.8 (4)

Jalpai

guri

487 25.0 126

68.4 (333) 1.6 (8) 0.0 (0)

0.0(0) 3.5 (17) 0.6 (3)

Total 1812 26.8 (485)

57.5 (1042) 6.2 (113) 0.6 (10)

1.2 (21) 7.2 (131) 0.6 (10)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school;

Source: Field Survey

Telipara T G Primary School was attended mainly by the tribal children. There were 252

children enrolled in it and 97 percent of them belonged to the ST category. It was situated at

Dhupguri block in Jalpaiguri. On the day of visit 58 percent of the enrolled children were

present in the school. The menu of the MDM the day of our visit was khichuri. No vegetable

was found; even the pulses, a necessary ingredient of the dish was hardly visible. Although it

was claimed to be made with 15 kg of rice and 5 kg of dal, it was apparent that the meal was

basically prepared with rice and turmeric powder and the quantity of pulses added was

negligible. Yet, 88 percent of the children present ate the meal.

 

Figure-5

As rega

to be po

made th

in the r

backgro

Jalpiagu

enrolled

insepara

it has it

is the sy

but invo

5.4. Ro

Respon

of the c

about t

acknow

5.2. Variation

Source: Fiel

ards to the e

oor there w

his variation

respective

ound forme

uri, in Kolk

d in the sc

ably linked

ts reflection

ystemic arra

olve system

le of teache

nses of teach

children, but

the poor q

wledged that

Kolk

Murshidab

Ma

Jalpaig

n in proportio

d Survey (re

extent of co

was a variati

n could be e

districts. W

ed more tha

kata the di

chools (Se

with econo

n on the deli

angement th

mic correctio

ers and ser

hers and coo

t in Kolkata

quality of

t the quality

0 2

kata

bad

alda

guri

C

on of childre

esponses of c

ompulsion o

on between

explained at

While childr

an 80 perce

isadvantage

e table-14

omic vulner

ivery of Mid

hat has the

ons.

rvice provid

oks of the d

a, more teac

rice. Alth

y of rice had

20 40

3838

Children in p

58 

en (in %) rep

children)

of children o

n Kolkata an

t least partia

ren of sche

ent of the t

d groups c

in Append

rability on o

d-day Meal

largest influ

ders in mai

districts reg

chers and se

hough som

d improved

60 8

8.6

52.1

62.7

65.1

8.6

56.5

61.7

68

er cent

portedly avail

of eating th

nd three oth

ally by the s

eduled caste

total enrolm

constituted

dix-II). Soc

one hand an

l. The issue

uence on it

intaining qu

arding the q

ervice provi

me of the

in recent p

80

18.4

Codep

Copoo

ling MDM d

he meal desp

her districts

social comp

es, Muslim

ment in Mu

only 33 pe

cial disadv

nd voiceless

certainly h

and any rem

uality of th

quality of ri

iders than th

teachers a

eriod, only

onsuming othepite poor qual

onsuming rice or quality

despite poor q

pite finding

s (See figure

position of t

ms and sche

urshidabad,

er cent of a

vantage is c

sness on the

as its local

medial mea

he MDM

ice were sim

he children

and service

6 percent t

er items lity

depite

quality

g the quality

e-5.2).What

the children

eduled tribe

Malda and

all children

clearly and

e other, and

roots; but it

asure cannot

milar to that

complained

e providers

eachers and

y

t

n

e

d

n

d

d

t

t

t

d

s

d

59  

12.7 percent service providers in Kolkata believed that the usual quality of rice was good (See

table-5.7).

Table-5.7. Opinion of teachers and service providers (in %) on the quality of rice*

District Teacher Service Provider

No. of

responses

Usually

good

Good

bad both

Usually

bad

No. of

responses

Usually

good

Good bad

both

Usually

bad

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Kolkata 84 # 6.0 (5) 46.4 (39)

47.6(40) 55 12.7 (7) 30.9 (17) 56.4 (31)

Murshi- dabad

99 57.6 (57)

30.3 (30)

12.1 (12)

98 60.2 (59)

29.6 (29) 10.2 (10)

Malda 99 62.6 (62)

32.3 (32)

5.1 (5) 99 53.3 (53)

44.4 (44) 2.0 (2)

Jalpaiguri 99 53.5 (53)

41.4 (41)

5.1 (5) 99 32.3 (32)

61.6 (61) 6.1 (6)

Total 381 46.5 (177)

37.3 (142)

16.3 (62)

351 43.0 (151)

43.0 (151) 14.0 (49)

* Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of responses; # MDM was not functional in 6 schools of

Kolkata; $ Some respondents were common for 28 schools in Kolkata as central kitchens were

functional there and one respondent each from Kolkata and Murshidabad declined to respond;

Source: Field Survey

Despite difference in degrees, sections of teachers and service providers across the districts

found the quality of rice supplied for the MDM to be poor, and in 32 percent cases they had

refused to accept the supplied rice that was of poor quality (See table-5.8 and 5.9). Surprisingly,

though some of the teachers believed that poor quality of rice made the children avoid the meal

(See table-15 in Appendix-II in this regard), they did not take this as a matter of concern.

Schools, where teachers believed the rice was of poor quality yet allowed cooking it for MDM

ranged between 32.1 percent in Kolkata25 to 42.4 percent in Jalpaiguri (See table-5.8). Proportion

of service providers who reportedly cooked the rice despite finding the quality poor varied

between 48.5 percent in Jalpaiguri to 67.3 percent in Kolkata (See table-5.9). Many of the

                                                            25 53.6 percent teachers in Kolkata expressed their limitation to comment in this regard (see column 7 of table-5.8). It is to be kept in mind here that NGOs and NHCs were taking the pivotal role of providing MDM in major schools in Kolkata.

60  

service providers claimed that they cleaned the rice well before cooking. But responses of

children and parents did not quite go along similar lines. Practice of cooking poor quality rice is

a serious matter of concern as it not only creates inhibition towards the meal but also attaches

potential risk for the health of the children.

Table-5.8. Responses of teachers (in %) with respect to the poor quality of rice supply*

District No. of

responses #

Returned

back the

rice

Cooked

the same

rice

Reported

higher

authority

No instance

of poor

quality rice

Unaware

about the

action of cook

Others

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Kolkata 84 11.9 (10) 32.1 (27) 0.0 (0) 2.4 (2) 53.6 (45) 0.0 (0)

Murshidabad 99 36.4 (36) 34.3 (34) 3.0 (3) 22.2 (22) 1.0 (1) 3.0 (3)

Malda 99 33.3 (33) 39.4 (39) 1.0 (1) 25.3 (25) 0.0 (0) 1.0 (1)

Jalpaiguri 99 43.4 (43) 42.4 (42) 0.0 (0) 14.1 (14) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0)

Total 381 32.0 (122) 37.3 (142) 1.0 (4) 16.5 (63) 12.1 (46) 1.0 (4)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school; # MDM was not functional in 6 schools of Kolkata

and one respondent in Jalpaiguri declined to respond;

Source: Field Survey

Table-5.9. Responses of service providers (in %) with respect to the poor quality of rice supply*

District No. of

responses #

Returned

back the rice

Cooked the

same rice

Quality of rice

not so bad

Reported

authority

Others

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Kolkata 55 20.0 (11) 67.3 (37) 5.5 (3) 1.8 (1) 5.5 (3)

Murshidabad 98 21.4 (21) 58.2 (57) 18.4 (18) 0.0 (0) 2.0 (2)

Malda 99 37.4 (37) 54.5 (54) 6.1 (6) 1.0 (1) 1.0 (1)

Jalpaiguri 99 44.4 (44) 48.5 (48) 6.1 (6) 0.0 (0) 1.0 (1)

Total 351 32.2 (113) 55.8 (196) 9.4 (33) 0.6 (2) 2.0 (7)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school; # Some respondents were common for 28 schools

in Kolkata as central kitchens were functional there and one respondent each from Kolkata and

Murshidabad declined to respond;

Source: Field Survey

61  

As far as the quality of other items of the MDM was concerned, we found many schools not

following the norms set up by the Government of India. The norm states that ingredients of the

MDM must contain 20 grams of pulses and 50 grams of vegetables for every child of primary

classes. For every child of upper primary classes it should contain 30 grams of pulses and 75

grams of vegetables. On the day of the visit, only 11.1 percent schools in four districts were

found preparing a menu comprising both pulses and vegetables. Another 19.1 percent did not

cook pulses and vegetables separately but cooked a combination of rice, pulses and vegetables

(khichuri) on the day of visit (See table-5.10). In accordance to the menu comprising pulses and

vegetables Jalpaiguri was found to be at the top (20.5%) and Kolkata at the bottom (6.3%).

When it came to khichuri Murshidabad was at the top (25%) and Jalpaiguri at the bottom

(14.1%). If we exclude the schools that provided egg/fish/meat/paneer on the day of visit, almost

55 percent schools in four studied districts were found to provide a menu comprising either

vegetable only or pulses with potato only. Importantly 6.3 percent schools in Kolkata were found

to provide a preparation exclusively of potato which did not anyway add much nutritional value

compared to that of green vegetables.

Table-5.10. Distribution of schools (in %) according to their menu of MDM on the day of visit*

District No. of

school

Rice,

dal &

vege-

table

Khi-

churi

Rice &

vege-

table

Rice, dal

& potato

or Rice &

Alu- motor

Rice &

alu-

soyabin

Rice

&

potato

Rice &

Egg/

Scrambled

Egg

Rice

&Fish/

Paneer/

Meat

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Kolkata 79 6.3 (5)

19.0 (15) 16.5 (13) 11.4 (9) 27.8 (22) 6.3 (5) 10.1 (8) 2.5 (2)

Murshi

dabad

84 10.7 (9)

25.0 (21) 20.2 (17) 8.3 (7) 14.3 (12) 1.2 (1) 20.2 (17) 0.0 (0)

Malda 83 7.2 (6)

18.1 (15) 3.6 (3) 43.4 (36) 12.0 (10) 2.4 (2) 13.3 (11) 0.0 (0)

Jalpai

guri

78 20.5 (16)

14.1 (11) 15.4 (12) 12.8 (10) 25.6 (20) 0.0 (0) 10.3 (8) 1.3 (1)

Total 324 11.1 (36)

19.1 (62) 13.9 (45) 19.1 (62) 19.8 (64) 2.5 (8) 13.6 (44) 0.9 (3)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school;

Source: Field Survey

62  

Even schools that apparently provided the meal following the nutritional norms set up by the

government did not always seem to have maintained the quantity of ingredients. In many of the

schools, pulses and vegetables used to prepare the khichuri was found to be much smaller in

quantity than required. The system of maintenance of records pertaining to the quantity of

ingredients used for MDM was found to be very poor. The register shown by the teachers hardly

contained any records on quantity of ingredients used for MDM. It contained mainly three

records, that of rice, number of children ate the meal and the money spent (See table-16 in

Appendix-II). Record keeping by the cooks was also very poor: only 17 percent of them (highest

being 35 % in Murshidabad and lowest being 11 % in Malda) had registers containing details of

ingredients used for preparing the meal (See table-17 in Appendix-II).

Some amount of creative imagination among the teachers and the cooks could bring a huge

change. In Masundi Primary School situated at Bharatpur I block in Murshidabad Vegetable

Biriyani was served on the day of visit. The change in the menu did not require any additional

expenses, but it added a lot to make the lunch joyful for the children. While such creative

application of mind was not seen very commonly, some mechanism of dissemination of such

positive examples could have an encouraging impact on others.

Children often complained about monotonous menu. Many children in Kolkata were ‘fed-up’

with soyabin’.26 In Murshidabad the MDM related records of last six working days showed that

khichuri was provided for more than three days in 19.3 percent schools. It was not only the lack

of variation of menu that made children ‘bored’, but the taste of the food was also not found to

be attractive and some children had reportedly protested against the tastelessness of the food. In

some of the schools in Kolkata the MDM was being supplied by the ISKON Food Relief

Foundation. Owing to its religious faith the preparation of the food by the organization was

completely vegetarian, without even the use of onion. The taste of the food, generally uncommon

to the Bengalee palate, made the children explicitly dissatisfied. Some service providers in

Kolkata were found to prepare the meal in the morning to serve the children in the day.

Obviously owing to the time gap the general ordinariness of the food turned worse. The MDM

provided at Ambedkar Sishu Siksha Kendra, a day school in South Kolkata was prepared in the

morning. According to the cook of the central kitchen that supplied food to 415 children of 12

                                                            26 We found the use of soyabin on the day of our visit in the highest proportion of schools in Kolkata (27.8 percent).

63  

schools, usually the food got prepared by 8 in the morning and the same food was served at 1.30

noon.

It is important to mention in this context that, in Kolkata other items of the MDM (apart from

rice was found to be better only by a small section of the children of the schools served by NHCc

or NGOs, while the responses were relatively positive in case of the schools which had

independently engaged the cooks (CEI). As shown in table-5.11, 71 percent children of the

schools where food was prepared by CEI reported the usual quality of other items to be good,

while the corrosponding figures for the schools where meals were being prepared by NHCS and

NGOs were 37 and 43 percent respectively. Importantly, proportion of children who reported the

usual quality of other items to be bad was highest in the schools where MDM was supplied by

the NGOs (17 %).

Table-5.11. Variation in opinion of children availing MDM (in per cent) with respect to the

variation of service provider in Kolkata on the quality of items other than rice*

Type of Service Provider No. of children Usually good* Good bad both* Usually bad*

1 2 3 4 5

CEI 65 70.8 (46) 24.6 (16) 4.6 (3)

NHC 108 37.0 (40) 51.9 (56) 11.1 (12)

NGO 176 42.6 (75) 40.3 (71) 17.0 (30)

Others 14 57.1 (8) 35.7(5) 7.1 (1)

All 363 46.6 (169) 40.8 (148) 12.7 (46)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of responses;

Source: Field Survey

 

Figure-

visit in

Cross a

day Me

meal w

(See fig

by NGO

examin

5.5. Ina

Teacher

quality

implem

fund.Se

6.47 for

based o

field lev

for prim

5.3. Variati

Kolkata wit

Source: Fie

analysis of f

eal service p

as highest i

gure-5.3). T

O against a

ation of the

adequacy o

rs and servi

of food. T

menters of th

ervice provi

r primary a

on the preva

vel impleme

mary and Rs

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

prop

ortio

n of

chi

ldre

n in

per

cen

tion in the p

th respect to

eld Survey

figures perta

providers in

in the schoo

The reluctan

a much low

e arrangeme

of conversio

ice provider

The issue ha

he MDM ha

iders sugge

and upper pr

ailing price

enters appe

s. 4.65 for u

CEI NH

85.9 79

roportion o

o the variati

aining to th

n Kolkata sc

ols served by

nce of 29 pe

wer 14 perc

ents.

on cost

rs tended to

as been con

ave been fin

ested an ave

rimary stud

e during our

ared was ro

upper prima

HC NGO O

9.770.9

64 

of school att

ion of servi

he acceptabi

chools it wa

y CEIs, wh

ercent child

ent in scho

o attribute th

ngenital to

nding it diffi

erage per c

dents respec

r visit. Hen

oughly 35 p

ary).The ex

Others All

68.376.

tending chil

ce provider

ility of the m

as found tha

ile it lowest

ren to part

ools served

he inadequa

the progra

icult to mee

apita per d

ctively (See

nce, the requ

percent high

xisting alloc

1Prav

ldren availe

r

meal with th

at proportion

t for the sch

ticipate in th

by CEIs ca

acy of conv

amme: since

et the require

ay allotmen

table-5.12)

uired amou

her than the

ation of con

roportion of cvailing MDM

ed MDM on

hat of the ty

n of children

hools served

he school lu

alls forth a

version cost

e inception

ement with

nt of Rs. 5.

); the sugge

unt as estim

present rate

nversion co

children

n the day of

ype of Mid-

n eating the

d by NGOs

unch served

serious re-

to the poor

n field level

the allotted

.22 and Rs

estions were

mated by the

es (Rs. 3.33

ost appeared

f

-

e

.

d

-

r

l

d

.

e

e

3

d

65  

to be quite low even for procuring the ingredients to provide a quality meal; and the situation

became worse when the teachers or the service providers had to make some other arrangements

related to the MDM (buying soap, for example) from this allocation. Rise in the prices of

cooking gas has made the situation particularly precarious in Kolkata.27 Despite the existence of

a system of reviewing the conversion cost for each financial year, there was hardly any sign of

resolving the issue objectively. In other words, the urgency of laying the allocation in

consonance with the price index has not yet been attempted.

Table-5.12. Conversion cost suggested by the service providers (in average) as per prevailing price index

District Primary (Rs) Upper primary (Rs)

1 2 3

Kolkata 6.01 6.27

Murshidabad 5.04 5.05

Malda 5.62 6.16

Jalpaiguri 6.19 7.23

Total 5.22 6.47

Source: Field Survey

The above discussion gives a clear indication: the quality of the Mid-day Meal has often been

compromised to a large extent. The fact that large number of children were found to eat the

school meal was connected not with the attractive quality of the MDM but with their choice-less

compulsion is not only related with the question of children’s well being and education but also

very much connected with the practice of democracy and ensuring social justice.

It is true, that some teachers and service providers had been sincerely trying to provide a quality

meal to the children. We have some exceptionally positive examples like, Taratala Adarsha

Vidyalaya, in Kolkata, Simola Junior High School at Raghunathganj I block in Murshidabad,

Ratua High Madrasha (H.S.) in Malda, Beech T G Haldibari Primary School in Jalpaiguri and

some others. Acknowledging the exceptions and disseminating their experiences among other

                                                            27 Reportedly the authority announced that the excess fund required for the withdrawal of subsidy on gas will be made from the Management & Monitoring Fund but none of the service providers received that till the day of visit.

66  

can certainly bear some fruit and are necessary tasks, but, it is hard to imagine the exceptions to

replace the general trend without any systemic change, particularly financial.

Children taking Mid-day Meal at Mehedipara Hazi Jafar Madrassa Siksha Kendra in Murshidabad district

   

67  

6. Health and Hygiene

Cooking was taking place in a clean big room in the central kitchen run by ISKCON Food Relief

Foundation in a KMC building at Baghbazar in North Kolkata, while we reached there. The

cooks, other workers, the containers, were all very neat and clean. The place for washing utensils

and containers was segregated and away from the place of cooking and other works. The cooks

were preparing food for around 5000 children of 71 primary schools in Kolkata. The process

looked ideal even though the food’s fully vegetarian content made it somewhat unpopular with

the children as mentioned in previous section. This however was not a representative picture of

the standards of hygiene being maintained in the MDM kitchens in schools across the surveyed

districts. A considerable proportion of schools or kitchens (though not majority) in the studied

districts had problems related to maintenance of cleanliness and hygiene. The survey detects

weakness in maintenance of cleanliness and hygiene while preparing and serving food to the

children. Gaps in implementation of school health programme were also noticed in the studied

districts. These issues have been discussed in some details in the following sections.

6.1. Hygiene and cleanliness in the preparation of MDM

Instances of finding stones or insects or foul smell in rice in kitchens/schools (Kolkata – 26%,

Murshidabad - 10%, Malda - 30% and Jalpaiguri - 28%) have been discussed elsewhere in this

report. This proportion is in no way negligible. Even though the service providers everywhere

reported that they took due care in cleaning the rice and vegetables before cooking the

responses of the children, their parents and our observation did not corroborate these claims

always. In Santosh Nagar Tapsil Prathamik Vidyalaya located in Berhampore block,

Murshidabad it was found that the rice served to the children on the day of visit, was of

extremely poor quality full of small stones with a foul smell. On average 26 percent

kitchens/schools in four surveyed districts neglected washing of vegetables, which might prove

to be a serious threat to the health of the children given the widespread use of pesticides in

vegetable cultivation (See table-6.1). The highest proportion of schools that did not follow the

practice of washing vegetables well was located in Murshidabad (43%) where four schools did

not wash the vegetables at all. Remarkably even 23 percent kitchens in Kolkata were not

washing vegetables well. When it came to covering of the cooked meal, Kolkata and Jalpaiguri

68  

seemed to perform worse than the other two. 13 percent kitchens in Kolkata and 19 percent

schools in Jalpaiguri were found to have kept the cooked meal without cover at the time of visit

(See table – 6.1). Even though these bad practices were not found in majority of kitchens/ school,

this sort of negligence can have disastrous consequence for the children.

Table-6.1. Distribution of kitchens/schools (in %) with respect to poor rice, poor washing of vegetables

etc and covering cooked meal*

District Rice with stones or insects

or bad smell

Vegetables not washed well Cooked meal not covered

Total no. of kitchen/school

observed

Proportion of schools found so

Total no. of kitchen/school

observed

Proportion of schools found so

Total no. of kitchen/school

observed

Proportion of schools found so

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Kolkata 53 26.4 (14) 56 23.2 (13) 53 17.0 (9)

Murshidabad 98 10.2 (10) 84 42.9 (36)# 68 7.4 (5)

Malda 96 30.2 (29) 83 16.9 (14) 80 18.8 (15)

Jalpaiguri 97 27.8 (27) 78 17.9 (14) 73 27.4 (20)

Total 351 22.8 (80) 301 25.6 (77) 274 17.9 (49)

* Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of kitchen/school; # four schools did not wash vegetables.

Source: Field Survey

Mid-day Meal was reportedly provided to 118 primary schools and 15 upper primary schools in

Kolkata from a central kitchen run by a Non Government Organisation, HOPES. This central

kitchen functioned from a rented room located in North Kolkata near Bidhan Nagar Railway

Station. During the visit to the central kitchen on December 7, 2012, it was found that rice was

being taken from the bag and put in the cooking pot directly without any screening or washing.

The dirt, stones and other non edible particles in the food-grains continued to remain in the

cooked rice. Then the cooked rice was kept in an open shed without any cover. The teacher of

Sri Balkrishna Vidyalaya, one of the schools being serviced from this kitchen reported that

insects were also found in cooked rice supplied by this NGO.

Water from piped water supply and tube wells was mostly being used for cooking and for

washing utensils except in a few schools in Murshidabad and Malda where pond water was used

69  

for washing up. But the practice of washing utensils with soap was not being followed in many

schools in the studied districts. The number of schools where soap was not used for washing

utensils was highest in Jalpaiguri in comparison to other studied districts (43.6 %), followed by

Murshidabad (23.8%), and Malda (18.1%) (See table-6.2). Some of the service providers in the

studied districts reported that there was scarcity of fund for procuring soap as there was no

specific provision of fund for soaps in the MDM scheme. Most of the service providers were

arranging this cost from the conversion cost which affected the quality of MDM. Although the

number of kitchens not using soap for washing utensils was very low in Kolkata (3.6 %), a

considerable proportion of kitchens in Kolkata did not wash the utensils well despite the use of

soap (12.5%).

Table-6.2. Distribution of kitchens/schools (in %) with respect to use of soap for cleaning utensils*

District Total no. of

kitchen/school observed

Using ash or

clay for cleaning

Using soap

for cleaning

Using soap but not

cleaning properly

1 2 3 4 5

Kolkata 56 3.6 (2) 78.6 (44) 12.5 (7)

Murshidabad 84 23.8 (20) 66.7 (56) 0.0 (0)

Malda 83 18.1 (15) 72.3 (60) 2.4 (2)

Jalpaiguri 78 43.6 (34) 43.6 (34) 1.3 (1)

Total 301 23.6 (71) 64.5 (194) 3.3 (10)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of kitchen/school;

Source: Field Survey

6.2. Maintenance of hygiene in the place of eating MDM

The maintenance of hygiene was seriously lacking in the dining space where the children ate

their meal. While most of the children in Kolkata took their meal inside the classrooms, the

children in Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri usually took their meals at the school- veranda

(See table-4.12). Due to shortage of space children were also found to be taking their meal in

other places like open field or open space within the school premises. Classrooms are a safer

choice as these are usually clean. The school-veranda is usually cleaned by a broom before the

70  

meal is served to the children. Since people move around in shoes in the veranda, mere dusting

with a broom may not reduce the risk of contamination adequately. We found some schools that

did not even use the broom to clean up the dining space before serving the children (See table-

2.18 in Appendix-III). The open ground or open spaces within school premises were even more

risky as these could not be cleaned up at all.

6.3. Washing hands before taking MDM

The habit of washing hands before eating food is one of the good practices that MDM scheme is

supposed to inculcate among children. It creates a scope for developing sense of hygiene among

the children. In Ramzan Ali Smriti Sishu Siksha Kendra at Falakata block in Jalpaiguri district,

the teacher referred to a rhyme that was sung at the time of prayer which talked about the

hygienic practices to be followed by children before taking the meal. It was found that the

education of washing hands before taking meal was translated into practice in most of the

schools except those in Kolkata (See table-6.3). Children were not washing hands in a relatively

higher proportion of schools in Kolkata (22.8%). However, many children in some of the

Kolkata schools were found to be using spoon for eating. It was also observed that some schools

in Kolkata did not have water for washing hands.

Table-6.3. Distribution of schools (in %) with respect to hand wash by the children before taking MDM

on the day of visit*

District No. of school provided

MDM on the day of visit

Children washed

hands with soap

Children washed hands

but without soap

Children did

not wash hands

1 2 3 5 6

Kolkata 79 27.8 (22) 46.8 (37) 22.8 (18)

Murshidabad 84 33.3 (28) 63.1 (53) 2.4 (2)

Malda 83 43.4 (36) 48.2 (40) 0.0 (0)

Jalpaiguri 78 21.8 (17) 60.3 (47) 1.3 (1)

Total 324 31.8 (103) 54.6 (177) 6.5 (21)

* Children went home with their meal in some schools. Some of the schools could not be observed for

some other reasons. Thus the figures in parenthesis, indicating the number of school, are not equal to the

number of schools that provided MDM on the day of visit;

Source: Field Survey.

71  

Though the children were washing their hands before eating, soaps were not being used in

majority of cases. It was found only 31.8 percent schools, in four districts; children were using

soap on the day of visit (See table-6.3). Malda (43.4%) was at the top in this regard while

Jalpaiguri (21.8%) was at the bottom. The children of Palashdanga Primary School situated at

Habibpur block in Malda district took soap themselves from the teacher for washing their hands

before taking their meal. The response of the children, availing MDM, to queries by the survey

team on the practice of hand washing corroborated the survey findings above.

Although most the children reportedly washed their hands before taking meal, the proportion of

children washing hands with soap was much lower (See table-6.4). The proportion of children

that were reportedly using soap for washing hands was the highest in Malda (44.5 percent) while

98.4 percent children in that district were reportedly washing hands before taking meal (See

table-6.4). The proportion of children that were reportedly washing hands with soap was lowest

in Jalpaiguri (33.1%) as found on the day of visit.

Table-6.4. Response of children (in %) availing MDM on hand washing practices before taking MDM*

District No. of children Children reportedly

washing hands

Children reportedly washing

hands with soap

1 2 3 4

Kolkata 363 92.3 (335) 36.4 (132)

Murshidabad 474 99.2 (470) 37.8 (179)

Malda 488 98.4 (480) 44.5 (217)

Jalpaiguri 487 98.8 (481) 33.1 (161)

Total 1812 97.5 (1766) 38.0 (689)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of kitchen/school;

Source: Field Survey

Although the practice of washing hands before taking meal was near universal in all the studied

districts except Kolkata, not using soap continues to expose the children to the risk of infection.

It is important to note that some schools are reportedly arranging the cost of soap from the

conversion cost component of the programme at the expense of compromising the quality of

72  

MDM. The proportion of these schools was highest in Jalpaiguri (34%) and lowest in Kolkata (2.4%).28

The corresponding proportions were 29.3 and 11.1 percent for Murshidabad and Malda respectively.

6.4. Health check-up and providing micro-nutrients

The need for institutionalizing health check-up of a child like measuring his/her heights and weights or

examining his/her eye, teeth, skin to ensure physical well being for uninterrupted pursuit of education has

been acknowledged for a long time and integrated in the programmes of Health and Family Welfare

Department as also School education programme. The survey, however, found that the health check-up

of children, once in six months, was reportedly not taking place in majority schools in the studied

districts. In Murshidabad health check-up did not take place at least once in six months for 82.8 percent

schools (See table-6.5). There were many schools that reportedly did not conduct any health check-up

ever. The proportion of schools that reportedly conducted health check up in an interval of six months

was highest in Jalpaiguri (40%).

Table-6.5. Distribution of schools (in %) with respect to frequency of health check-up*

District No. of schools

introduced MDM

Health check up at least for once in six months

Health check up not even for

once in six months

Kolkata 90 33.3 (30) 66.7 (60)

Murshidabad 99 17.2 (17) 82.8 (82)

Malda 99 30.3 (30) 69.7 (69)

Jalpaiguri 100 40.0 (40) 60.0 (60)

Total 388 30.2 (117) 69.8 (271)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school;

Source: Field Survey

The negligence in checking up the health condition of children was also reflected in the low

incidence of providing iron supplements or de-worming tablets to the children. While taking all

the schools into consideration irrespective of their status of MDM, it was found Iron, Folic Acid

etc or de-worming tablets were reportedly provided only in 3 percent schools in Kolkata. This

proportion was however higher for Jalpaiguri (52 %) followed by Murshidabad (40%) and Malda

                                                            28 The conversion cost was hardly handled by the teachers in Kolkata. The teachers dealt in the conversion cost only in those schools where CEI were responsible for preparing meal.

73  

(21%). Given the incidence of anemia in the state and the target of the school health programme

to provide universal coverage to all school going children the state is still has a long way to meet

the programme objectives.

The gaps identified in the survey in the maintenance of hygienic condition while preparing and

serving meal, institutionalisation of hand washing practices among the children and

implementation of school health programmes deserves closer attention and early corrective

actions.

Children washing their plates and hands before taking MDM at Mehedipara Hazi Jafar

Madrassa Siksha Kendra in Murshidabad district

   

 

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74 

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75  

It was found during the survey that inspection system was non-functional to a large extent in

Kolkata. Inspection reportedly took place only in 21 percent schools in Kolkata in last six

months preceding the visit (See figure-7.1). 11.5 percent of the schools from other categories

were inspected in comparison to 25 percent of primary schools. Remarkably in Kolkata the

proportion of schools inspected in last six months was higher for the schools managed by

Kolkata Municipal Corporation (37.5%) than the schools managed by Department of School

Education (18.6 %). Among the four studied districts, Murshidabad topped the list with 45.5% of

schools (of both categories together) where reportedly inspection took place in last six months.

The performances of other districts were worse as depicted in figure 7.1.

7.2. Role of parents

The absence of a strong inspection system can be compensated to a considerable extent through a

strong social audit mechanism that involves community participation. Majority of teachers in

Malda (62.6 %) and Jalpaiguri (70 %) reported that parents did play a role in supervising MDM

scheme while of the teachers in Kolkata (83.3 %) and half of the teachers in Murshidabad

(49.5%) opined that parents had no role in implementing MDM scheme in their schools (See

table-7.1). Prproportion of teachers reporting that parents had no role in implementing MDM

scheme in Malda and Jalpaiguri was 33.3 and 29.0 percent respectively.

Table-7.1. Responses of teachers (in %) regarding role of parents for the implementation of MDM*

District Total responses

Participation of parents in implementation of MDM

Teacher approached to parents for participation

Supervision Others Nothing Yes No

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Kolkata 84 # 2.4 (2) 14.3 (12) 83.3 (70) 6.0 (5) 94.0 (79)

Murshidabad 99 38.4 (38) 12.1 (12) 49.5 (49) 59.6 (59) 40.4 (40)

Malda 99 62.6 (62) 4.0 (4) 33.3 (33) 72.7 (72) 27.3 (27)

Jalpaiguri 100 70.0 (70) 1.0 (1) 29.0 (29) 83.0 (83) 17.0 (17)

Total 382 45.0 (172) 7.6 (29) 47.4 (181) 57.3 (219) 42.7 (163)

* Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school; # MDM was not functional in 6 schools of

Kolkata;

Source: Field Survey

76  

Responding to enquiries regarding their initiatives for involving parents for the implementation

of MDM programme, majority teachers in the studied districts except Kolkata reported to have

approached parents for participation in MDM scheme (See table-7.1). The impression we get is

that the parents did not respond to the call to the desired extent. Only 3.2, 5.5 and 9.6 percent

parents reported to have participated in the implementation of MDM in Kolkata, Murshidabad

and Malda respectively. Remarkably, majority of the guardians reported that they were not

approached by the teachers for any participation. This gap between the responses of parents and

the claim of the teachers regarding the efforts made in involving the parents in the process points

to a failed recognition of the importance of social audit and simultaneously a lukewarm attitude

in operationalising it fully.

Table-7.2. Opinion of parents (in %) with respect to their participation in the implementation of MDM

reportedly whose children avail school lunch *

District No. of

parents

Participating for the

implementation of MDM

Teacher approached for participation

Yes No Yes No No response

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Kolkata 339 3.2 (11) 96.8 (328) 2.7 (9) 97.3 (330) 0.0 (0)

Murshidabad 470 5.5 (26) 94.5 (444) 6.4 (30) 93.2 (438) 0.4 (2)

Malda 488 9.6 (47) 90.4 (441) 7.2 (35) 91.6 (447) 1.2 (6)

Jalpaiguri 477 24.5 (117) 75.5 (360) 28.5 (136) 71.3 (340) 0.2 (1)

Total 1774 11.3 (201) 88.7 (1573) 11.8 (210) 87.7 (1555) 0.5 (9)

* Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of responses;

Source: Field Survey

The survey also found that parents were largely in favour of MDM scheme (See table-7.3). The

abolition of class-hunger as an impact of MDM scheme was cited by the highest proportion of

guardians in any of the studied districts. In Malda 93.9 percent guardians told that the issue of

class-hunger was resolved by the MDM scheme. In Kolkata, where the coverage of MDM

scheme has recently been expanded, 69.4 percent parents held this view (See table-7.3). A low

proportion of parents in the studied districts had raised the issue of negative impacts of MDM

77  

scheme like it diverts children’s attention from studies. This was raised by 11.9 percent

guardians in four studied districts on an average, and the proportion was highest in Malda where

16.8 percent guardians raised this issue (See table 18 in Appendix II). On the whole majority of

the parents/ guardians welcomed the scheme.

Table-7.3. Opinion of parents (in %) with respect to positive impact of MDM *

* Responses were not mutually exclusive and figures in parenthesis indicate the number of responses;

Source: Field Survey

The survey found that parents had different reasons for not taking an active part in the

implementation of MDM (See figure-7.2). While the highest proportion of parents in Jalpaiguri

and Kolkata (68.1 and 55.5 % respectively) reported that they did not participate due to their

inability to manage time for that, 35.8% of parents in Malda, followed by 24.1% in Murshidabad

did not feel it necessary to participate in the implementation of MDM programme as there were

people assigned for that. But the lack of initiative on the part of the school to involve people was

also raised by a significant proportion of guardians in Murshidabad (30.6), followed by Kolakata

(28.7%) and Malda (23%). However Jalpaiguri was lowest in this regard (12.8 %)30 (See Fig

7.2).

                                                            30 A considerable section of parents in Jalpaiguri reported that the teachers approached them for participation (see table-7.2)

District No. of

parents

Increase in

child attendance

Children staying

more in schools

Increase in children’s health consciousness

Resolving class-hunger

1 2 3 4 5 6

Kolkata 395 10.4 (41) 18.7 (74) 10.1 (40) 69.4 (274)

Murshidabad 494 53.6 (265) 25.5 (126) 16.6 (82) 75.5 (373)

Malda 495 47.1 (233) 29.1 (144) 12.9 (64) 93.9 (465)

Jalpaiguri 495 55.2 (273) 67.9 (336) 21.6 (107) 91.7 (454)

Total 1879 43.2 (812) 36.2 (680) 15.6(293) 83.3 (1566)

 

Figure-7

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Field Survey

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78 

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10.0 20.0

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70.0

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alpaiguri

Malda

Murshidabad

Kolkata

M

 

i

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h

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s

79  

served to the children. Similarly few parents reportedly came forward to assist the service

providers occasionally for preparing MDM in Ramkrishna Nagar GSFP School in Kolkata. These

numbers may be low but it this points to the fact that parents can be motivated to participate in the

programme..

7.3. Dissemination of information

The hiatus in communicating with the parents was also reflected in dissemination of information on

MDM. In a Sishu Siksha Kendra at Alipurduar I block in Jalpaiguri district our investigators found a

board in the kitchen meant for displaying information of MDM which was left blank. In majority of the

schools in the studied districts, necessary information of MDM that should be displayed for public

information viz. allocation of rice/ conversion cost per child, menu of the day, number of children present

on the day etc was not displayed. The proportion of schools that were found to be displaying any

information of MDM on the day of visit was highest in Murshidabad (42.9%) and lowest in Kolkata

(12.7%). The situation of other categories school was worse than the primary schools. In all the studied

districts other categories schools were found to displaying MDM information in lower proportion than the

primary schools (see table-7.4).

Table-7.4. Distribution of schools (in %) that was found to be providing MDM while displaying

information on MDM on the day of visit *

District Primary Other categories All

Total

no. of

school

Proportion of

school displaying

information on

MDM

Total

no. of

school

Proportion of

school displaying

information on

MDM

Total

no. of

school

Proportion of

school displaying

information on

MDM

Kolkata 56 16.1 (9) 23 4.3 (1) 79 12.7 (10)

Murshidabad 69 47.8 (33) 15 20.0 (3) 84 42.9 (36)

Malda 68 41.2 (28) 15 40.0 (6) 83 41.0 (34)

Jalpaiguri 66 24.3 (16) 12 16.7 (2) 78 23.1 (18)

Total 259 33.2 (86) 65 18.5 (12) 324 30.2 (98)

* Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school;

Source: Field Survey

80  

Even the schools that were found to be displaying information on MDM did not necessarily

display all the required information. Many schools were found to display only the information

regarding the number of children present and the menu. However there were examples of good

practices also. In Ratua High Madrasha (H.S.) situated at Ratua I block in Malda district, the

allocation of food-grains, pulses etc for a child in a day, the allocation of conversion cost for a

child in a day besides the menu were written on the wall of the school.

Similar lapse was found with respect to logo of MDM as well. The logo was not displayed in

most of the schools in the studied districts except Malda. In Malda 56.6 percent schools

displayed the logo at the time of visit while in Murshidabad and Jalpaiguri it was 26.2 and 27.0

percent respectively (See table-20 in Appedndix-II). The logo was not displayed in any of the

sampled schools in Kolkata. Notably the proportion of primary schools that had logo at the time

of visit was higher than the proportion of other categories schools in the studied districts.

Increase in the teacher’s workload may have been one of the primary reasons behind such lapses

which has been discussed in detail in section 4. The government’s provision of low conversion

cost resulting in poor quality of meal de-motivated the teachers to do their best. There was lack

in conceptual clarity among some teachers about the significance of cooked MDM. A fairly

significant number of teachers continue to advocate distribution of dry food in lieu of cooked

mid-day meal. The proportion of teachers suggesting this was highest in Kolkata (21.4%). The

proportion of teachers in three other districts favouring this was 11.1, 15.2 and 12 percent in

Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri respectively. Sometimes social barriers force the teachers to

lose initiative. In some schools in Malda we were reported about the reservation of some Hindus

against taking MDM due to engagement of Muslim cook cum helper.

Political conflict also affects the functioning of schools. Yet there are teachers who continue to

do their work with all the sincere efforts. In Vijaygarh Vidyapith in Kolkata, we found one

teacher feeding a child on the day of visit who could not manage to eat properly. The head

teacher of Shahid Khudiram Sishu Sisha Kendra situated at Alipurduar II block in Jalpaiguri

district was found to clean the veranda herself before providing MDM to the children.

81  

While looking into the responses of the teachers regarding impact of MDM the survey found that a

significantly large proportion of the teachers felt that MDM has many positive impacts (See table-7.5a).

Although a considerable proportion of teachers in the studied districts reported that MDM has led to the

reduction in time for teaching-learning and deviation of child attention towards MDM (See table 7.5b), it

is evident that the positive impacts are way ahead of the negative impacts. Thus the problems faced by the

teachers in implementing MDM scheme can be solved only when their constraints are removed to a

considerable extent. It needs to be also noted that information regarding the honorarium of the cook cum

Effect of Social Discrimination on MDM

Social divisions based on caste and religion can play a stubborn bottleneck in the way of success of the

mid-day meal projects. Although the degree of parents preventing their wards from accepting the meal

because the cook preparing it belongs to different social groups has reduced substantially, they are not

an uncommon sight in some schools. This social inhibition obviously deprives the child from basic

nutrition thus hampering his/her learning process. And while the MDM has played a key role in

reducing social distances the negative exceptions counterproductively add to the existing rift among

fellow villagers. Though not a part of the sampled schools surveyed, Kamakshyaguri Primary School

in Kumargramduar block in Jalpaiguri shows what havoc this extreme discriminatory attitude can

cause. The school has discontinued with the mid day meal since July, 2010 as the parents did not allow

their wards to eat meals cooked by the Muslims. Despite repeated attempts this situation could not be

positively resolved. The headmaster reported that it was difficult to retain children in the afternoon

since the little breakfast, often a cup of tea, which they have before school is not enough to sustain

them through the lessons. Thus both nutrition and education was at stake for the poor children.

Paschim Changmari primary school in the same block, however, has a very different tale to tell. Here

the SHG responsible for cooking the mid-day meal comprise both Hindu and Muslim members who

work hand in hand to feed the children thus contributing to the project’s success.

Examples of similar caste based disruption of the MDM was found in a surveyed school, Etore Santhal

Sikshalaya in Nabagram Block, Murshidabad where the Hindus (Ghosh community) and the Santhals

declined to allow their children to eat meals prepared by the Muslim cooks. Now the problem has

largely been solved though there is some dissent among the Brahmin children. Kaligram High School

in Chanchal 1, Malda has to overcome the same hurdle, as it was heard from parents that Hindu

children refuse to eat meals prepared by Muslim cooks.

82  

helper does not get disseminated properly. Almost none of the cooks had clear ideas about the state

provisions of honorarium.

Table-7.5a. Responses of teachers of those schools that introduced MDM with respect to positive impacts

of MDM (in %)*

District No. of

teacher

Increase in

child

attendance

Retention of

children in

school

Eradication

of class-

hunger

Development of health &

hygiene sense among

children

1 2 4 5 7 9

Kolkata 84 38.1 (32) 23.8 (20) 73.8 (62) 17.9 (15)

Murshidabad 99 88.8 (88) 38.4 (38) 81.8 (81) 39.4 (39)

Malda 99 80.8 (80) 39.4 (39) 84.8 (84) 35.4 (35)

Jalpaiguri 100 89.0 (89) 73.0 (73) 95.0 (95) 63.0 (63)

Total 382 75.6 (289) 44.5 (170) 84.3 (322) 39.8 (152)

* Responses were not mutually exclusive and figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school; #

MDM was not functional in 6 schools of Kolkata;

Source: Field Survey

Table-7.5b. Responses of teachers of those schools that introduced MDM with respect to negative impacts

of MDM (in %)*

District No. of

teacher

Reduction in time

for teaching-

learning

Diversion in attention of

children towards MDM

from study

Disturbance in teaching-

learning for involvement of

teachers in MDM

1 2 3 4 10

Kolkata 84 14.3 (12) 6.0 (5) 1.2 (1)

Murshidabad 99 20.2 (20) 27.2 (27) 2.0 (2)

Malda 99 20.2 (20) 16.2 (16) 2.0 (2)

Jalpaiguri 100 4.0 (4) 7.0 (7) 5.0 (5)

Total 382 14.6 (56) 14.4 (55) 2.6 (10)

* Responses were not mutually exclusive and figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school;

#MDM was not functional in 6 schools of Kolkata;

Source: Field Survey

83  

Limited public participation for the implementation of MDM scheme has various reasons behind

it. The municipal or panchayat elected representatives reportedly participated in only 25.6, 45.5,

43.4 and 45.0 percent of the schools in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri respectively

where MDM was introduced at the time of survey. Over all it can be affirmed that public

participation was very weak in the studied districts which needs to be improved upon for better

implementation of the MDM project.

Children eating Mid-day Meal at Shri Jnan Bhaskar Vidyalaya (Boys) in Kolkata

84  

8. Recommendations

1. Policy

1.1 The permitted level of conversion cost needs to be reviewed. The expenses involved in

procuring the required ingredients including the compensation being offered to service providers

have not kept pace with the price rise.

1.2 A clear mechanism for maintaining accurate records need to be introduced which would

take into account the fact that many schools are compelled to feed MDM to pre-primary level

children which is not permitted under the programme at present. This needs to be legitimised

through a policy decision so that the schools are not compelled to adopt subterfuges such as

fudging the numbers of children availing MDM for feeding the pre primary level children.

1.3 Allotment of rice and conversion cost etc. for MDM to all schools may be made on 100% of

children enrolled in a school instead of the 85% permitted at present. It was noticed during our

survey that there are schools where the average attendance was higher than the permitted limit.

1.4 The conversion cost may be paid out in advance and the current practice of reimbursement

may be discontinued. The survey noted prevalence of delay in payment in all the studied districts

which was affecting the quality of the service adversely.

2. Operators

2.1 While interruption in the supply of rice was found to be an important reason for the

discontinuity of MDM in some schools some of the other schools faced problem of storage due

to excess supply of rice. The quality of rice was also found to be an issue in some places. The

delivery system including quality control needs to be streamlined.

2.2 The policy regarding engagement of SHGs for cooking of MDM may be made more specific.

The number of SHG engaged for a school may not generally exceed the limit of two.

Engagement of separate SHGs for different classes in a school may be forbidden. Capability of

SHGs for maintaining accounts related to MDM independently with at least one member of the

group specifically entrusted with this responsibility should be made a pre-condition for their

engagement, to relieve the teachers from this responsibility. The training of cooks for

maintaining hygiene in preparing food should be made compulsory.

85  

2.3 The Govt. norms for the size of kitchen-cum-store should be revised to provide for adequate

space for cooking and storage of food-grains and utensils.

2.4 Provision may be made for adequate quantity of utensils including plates for children to eat

on.

2.5 MDM for schools without own buildings may be arranged by involving the SHGs engaged

for cooking for a different school in the same village. They may use the available kitchen-cum-

store in the village/school from where they currently operate.

2.6 Although the progress in the coverage of MDM scheme in Kolkata has become a reality due

to the involvement of NHCs and NGOs. The survey found that in a considerable number of

schools it has become non functional due to poor performance of NGOs. Implementation in

Kolkata may be reviewed.

3. Participation

3.1 Social involvement in the functioning of the programme may be intensified. The survey

found that involvement of parents and others in the MDM makes a qualitative difference in the

programme as was found in some of the exemplary schools. Enhanced social involvement by

making room for the parents and others in the functioning would bring in further transparency in

the programme and would make the programme qualitatively better. A separate committee for

MDM consisting of parents and others may be constituted to a) ensure the quality of meal as well

as variation in menu, b) help in discontinuing the practice of serving dry food in some schools, c)

oversee Record keeping system, d) ensure display of relevant information of MDM in notice

board etc.

4. Hygienic practices

4.1 Provision may be made for training of cooks/ SHGs engaged for MDM on, a) ensuring

nutritive values of items being cooked, b) proper washing and cleaning of all raw items before

cooking, c) proper cleaning of utensils with detergent etc after cooking, d) proper storage of

cooked food, d) cleaning of plates etc before serving the food to the children and e) maintaining

environmental hygiene in preparing the food.

86  

4.2 Arrangement of drinking water for the children may be ensured in schools where it is

currently not available.

4.3 Separate dining place for the children may be arranged to the extent possible. Keeping the

place clean before and after MDM is a practice that needs to be developed at the school level.

4.4 A separate provision of fund for meeting the expenditure of soap for the hand-washing of

children (before and after the meal) may be made.

4.5 The School Health Programme (currently merged with RBSY) provides for Regular health

check up of school children. Concrete arrangement for implementing this programme in

collaboration with Health &FW Department may be made.

5. Supervision and Information System

5.1 The Supervision and Monitoring system for all aspects of the programme as listed above

needs to be strengthened. Involvement of parents and members of the community in actual

implementation of the programme at the school with some supervisory authority would enhance

the quality of the programme.

5.2 Displaying of information regarding MDM in the school premises need to be ensured.

Similarly the display of MDM logo may also be enforced.

5.3 Improved supervision of supply related issues such as timely delivery of rice of desired

quality and payment of conversion and other costs is also called for.

5.4 Supervision mechanism in Kolkata needs to be reviewed as there appears to be quite a few

problems with the quality of the service being provided.

87  

Appendix-I

Profile of Respondents

88  

Profile of Respondents

1. Teacher

Table-1.1. Distribution of teacher respondents (in per cent) in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and

Jalpaiguri by their sex and designation in school

District No. of teacher

Sex Designation

Male Female Head teacher Teacher-in-Charge Others

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Kolkata 100 60.0 40.0 50.0 35.0 15.0

Murshidabad 100 73.0 27.0 68.0 21.0 11.0

Malda 100 74.0 26.0 43.0 33.0 24.0

Jalpaiguri 100 57.0 43.0 51.0 29.0 20.0

Total 400 66.0 34.0 53.0 29.5 17.5

Source: Field Survey (teachers’ responses)

Table-1.2. Distribution of teacher respondents (in per cent) in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and

Jalpaiguri by their social identity

District No. of teacher SC ST Muslims Others

1 2 3 4 5 6

Kolkata 100 3.0 5.0 14.0 78.0

Murshidabad 100 14.0 1.0 44.0 41.0

Malda 100 12.0 7.0 34.0 47.0

Jalpaiguri 100 29.0 6.0 5.0 60.0

Total 400 14.5 4.7 24.3 56.5

Source: Field Survey (teachers’ responses)

89  

2. Service Provider

Table-2.1. Distribution of service provider respondents (in per cent) in Kolkata, Murshidabad,

Malda and Jalpaiguri by their sex and status as cook-cum-helper*

District No. of respondent Sex Cook-cum-helper

Male Female Yes No

1 2 3 4 5 6

Kolkata 56 33.9 (19) 66.1 (37) 57.1 (32) 42.9 (24)

Murshidabad 99 2.0 (2) 98.0 (97) 99.0 (98) 1.0 (1)

Malda 99 4.0 (4) 96.0 (95) 91.9 (91) 8.1 (8)

Jalpaiguri 100 2.0 (2) 98.0 (98) 96.0 (96) 4.0 (4)

Total 354 7.6 (27) 92.4 (327) 89.6 (317) 10.4 (37)

* Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of respondents.

Source: Field Survey (responses of service providers)

Table-2.2. Distribution of service provider respondents (in per cent) in Kolkata, Murshidabad,

Malda and Jalpaiguri by their social identity*

District No. of respondent SC ST Muslims Others

1 2 3 4 5 6

Kolkata 56 5.4 (3) 0.0 (0) 12.5 (7) 82.1 (46)

Murshidabad 99 21.2 (21) 0.0 (0) 62.6 (62) 16.2 (16)

Malda 99 24.2 (24) 4.0 (4) 43.4 (43) 28.3 (28)

Jalpaiguri 100 42.0 (42) 21.0 (21) 4.0 (4) 33.0 (33)

Total 354 25.4 (90) 7.1 (25) 32.8 (116) 34.7 (123)

* Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of respondents.

Source: Field Survey (responses of service providers)

90  

3. Children

Table-3.1. Distribution of child respondents (in per cent) in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and

Jalpaiguri by sex and school category*

District No. of children Sex School category

Male Female Primary Other category

1 2 3 4 5 6

Kolkata 405 49.1 (199) 50.9 (206) 68.9 (279) 31.1 (126)

Murshidabad 494 47.8 (236) 52.2 (258) 79.1 (391) 20.9 (103)

Malda 495 54.7 (271) 45.3 (224) 81.8 (405) 18.2 (90)

Jalpaiguri 500 49.4 (247) 50.6 (253) 81.2 (406) 18.8 (94)

Total 1894 50.3 (953) 49.7 (941) 78.2 (1481) 21.8 (413)

* Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of child respondents

Source: Field Survey

Table-3.2. Distribution of child respondents (in per cent) in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and

Jalpaiguri by their social identity*

District No. of children SC ST Muslims Others

1 2 3 4 5 6

Kolkata 405 11.9 (48) 0.0 (0) 18.8 (76) 69.4 (281)

Murshidabad 494 14.2 (70) 0.6 (3) 69.4 (343) 15.8 (78)

Malda 495 22.2 (110) 11.1 (55) 48.7 (241) 18.0 (89)

Jalpaiguri 500 43.4 (217) 26.0 (130) 12.0 (60) 18.6 (93)

Total 1894 23.5 (445) 9.9 (188) 38.0 (720) 28.6 (541)

* Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of child respondents

Source: Field Survey (responses of guardian)

91  

4. Parents

Table-4.1. Distribution of guardian respondents (in per cent) in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda

and Jalpaiguri by their sex and relationship with the child*

District No. of respondents

Sex Relationship with child

Male Female Mother Father Others

1 2 3 4 5 6

Kolkata 395 22.0 (87) 78.0 (308) 69.1 (273) 18.7 (74) 12.2 (48)

Murshidabad 494 25.5 (126) 74.5 (368) 71.9 (355) 23.3 (115) 4.9 (24)

Malda 495 20.0 (99) 80.0 (396) 79.6 (394) 19.0 (94) 1.4 (7)

Jalpaiguri 495 34.7 (172) 65.3 (323) 60.8 (301) 28.3 (140) 10.9 (54)

Total 1879 25.8 (484) 74.2 (1395) 70.4 (1323) 22.5 (423) 7.1 (133)

* Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of respondents

Source: Field Survey (responses of guardian)

Table-4.2. Distribution of guardian respondents (in per cent) in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda

and Jalpaiguri by their social identity*

District No. of respondents SC ST Muslims Others

1 2 3 4 5 6

Kolkata 395 11.9 (47) 0.0 (0) 18.0 (71) 70.1 (277)

Murshidabad 494 14.2 (70) 0.6 (3) 69.4 (343) 15.8 (78)

Malda 495 22.2 (110) 11.1 (55) 48.7 (241) 18.0 (89)

Jalpaiguri 495 43.8 (217) 25.5 (126) 11.9 (59) 18.8 (93)

Total 1879 23.6 (444) 9.8 (184) 38.0 (714) 28.6 (537)

* Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of respondents

Source: Field Survey (responses of guardian)

92  

Table-4.3. Distribution of guardian respondents (in per cent) in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda

and Jalpaiguri by their occupation*

Dis trict

No. of res pon dents

Agri-labourer

Non Agri-labo urer

Bidi worker

Tea Garden worker

Domestic worker

Pea sent

Handicrafts/ Self Employed

Petty business

Ser vice

Housewife

Others

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Kol kata

395 0.0 (0)

11.6 (46)

0.0 (0)

0.0 (0)

20.3 (80)

0.0 (0)

3.3 (13)

8.4 (33)

5.8 (23)

47.6 (188)

3.0 (12)

Mur

Shida

bad

494 14.6 (72)

12.8 (63)

11.5 (57)

0.0 (0)

1.0 (5)

5.7 (28)

2.8 (14)

6.5 (32)

2.0 (10)

42.3 (209)

0.8 (4)

Mal

da

495 14.3 (71)

9.5 (47)

11.9 (59)

0.0 (0)

0.8 (4)

2.8 (14)

0.8 (4) 5.5 (27)

1.2 (6)

52.1 (258)

1.0 (5)

Jalpai

guri

495 20.6 (102)

11.5 (57)

0.0 (0)

9.7 (48)

3.2 (16)

6.7 (33)

2.0 (10)

5.3 (26)

3.0 (15)

36.0 (178)

2.0 (10)

Total 1879 13.0 (245)

11.3 (213)

6.2 (116)

2.6 (48)

5.6 (105)

4.0 (75)

2.2 (41)

6.3 (118)

2.9 (54)

44.3 (833)

1.6 (31)

* Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of respondents

Source: Field Survey (responses of guardian)

93  

Appendix-II

Appendix tables

94  

Appendix tables

Table-1. Coverage of elementary schools (as on March 31, 2013) by the MDM scheme in West

Bengal

Districts Primary Other categories No. of

eligible school

No. of school

covered

Per cent of school covered

No. of eligible school

No. of school

covered

Per cent of school covered

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Bankura 4049 4046 99.9 837 835 99.8

Birbhum 3836 3827 99.8 698 694 99.4

Burdwan 5309 5176 97.5 1037 952 91.8

Coochbehar 2561 2561 100.0 622 599 96.3

D/Dinajpur 1886 1886 100.0 278 278 100.0

U/Dinajpur 2499 2496 99.9 399 393 98.5

DGCH 1312 1312 100.0 198 198 100.0

Hooghly 3413 3413 100.0 717 680 94.8

Howrah 2456 2456 100.0 664 664 100.0

Jalpaiguri 3156 3128 99.1 741 669 90.3

Kolkata 1550 1525 98.4 564 551 97.7

Malda 2635 2635 100.0 583 575 98.6

Murshidabad 4914 4896 99.6 1104 1053 95.4

E/Medinipur 4790 4790 100.0 1025 1031 100.6

W/Medinipur 7236 7236 100.0 1287 1287 100.0

Nadia 3385 3385 100.0 766 763 99.6

N/24pgs 4629 4530 97.9 1184 947 80.0

S/24pgs 5017 4940 98.5 1069 955 89.3

Purulia 3508 3499 99.7 708 679 95.9

Siliguri 681 680 99.9 109 108 99.1

Total 68822 68417 99.4 14590 13911 95.4

Source: School Education Department, Government of West Bengal

95  

Table-2. Coverage of children of elementary schools (as on March 31, 2013) by MDM scheme in

West Bengal

Districts Primary Other categories No. of

enrolled children

No. of children covered

Per cent of children covered

No. of enrolled children

No. of children covered

Per cent of children covered

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Bankura 354333  300597  84.8 184024 155920  84.7

Birbhum 389555  379869  97.5 187174 182441  97.5

Burdwan 680482  645214  94.8 344327 313787  91.1

Coochbehar 281251  210005  74.7 216669 127093  58.7

D/Dinajpur 150424  150424  100.0 132137 132137  100.0

U/Dinajpur 447667  447342  99.9 157004 154996  98.7

DGCH 65267  65267  100.0 31031 31031  100.0

Hooghly 342840  340109  99.2 345430 332802  96.3

Howrah 372221  372221  100.0 209664 209664  100.0

Jalpaiguri 327355  202310  61.8 190270 115579  60.7

Kolkata 167986  165149  98.3 181000 177399  98.0

Malda 502231  502231  100.0 243777 243777  100.0

Murshidabad 834061  691198  82.9 441689 243573  55.2

E/Medinipur 492384  418526  85.0 453606 385565  85.0

W/Medinipur 712495  605897  85.0 310305 263484  84.9

Nadia 493627  467112  94.6 299515 240407  80.3

N/24pgs 557088  545987  98.0 567715 463881  81.7

S/24pgs 848801  832925  98.1 376733 333257  88.5

Purulia 362450  356010  98.2 156455 145255  92.8

Siliguri 80694  80694  100.0 64789 63204  97.6

Total 8463212  7779087  91.9 5093314 4315252  84.7

Source: School Education Department, Government of West Bengal

96  

Table-3. Distribution of schools (in per cent) as per year of introduction of MDM in Kolkata,

Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri*

District Primary# Other categories#

No. of school introduced MDM

At 2003 2004 to 2009

Since 2010

No. of school introduced MDM

Upto 2009

Since 2010

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Kolkata 64 3.1 (2) 28.1 (18) 68.8 (44) 26 0.0 (0) 100.0 (26)

Murshidabad 78 9.7 (7) 77.8 (56) 12.5 (9) 21 23.8 (5) 76.2 (16)

Malda 81 2.6 (2) 93.4 (71) 3.9 (3) 18 47.1 (8) 52.9 (9)

Jalpaiguri 82 19.0 (15) 78.5 (62) 2.5 (2) 18 61.1 (11) 38.9 (7)

Total 305 8.5 (26) 67.9 (207) 19.0 (58) 83 28.9 (24) 69.9 (58)

*Some respondents could not tell the year of introduction of MDM in their schools, thus the

percentage was calculated on the basis of total respondents that could report the year which was

lower than the actual number of schools introduced MDM. #Figures in parenthesis indicates the

number of school.

Source: Field Survey (teachers’ responses)

Table-4. Average rate of school attendance of children based on attendance register (in per cent)

for last three days preceding the survey in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri

District Primary Other categories All

1 2 3 4

Kolkata 67.5 64.6 66.6

Murshidabad 75.5 69.0 74.5

Malda 66.6 52.9 64.3

Jalpaiguri 64.2 58.2 63.3

Total 67.6 58.0 62.9

Source: Field Survey

97  

Table-5. Distribution of schools (in per cent) that interrupted MDM on the day of visit in

Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri*

District Primary Other categories All

Total no.

of school

introduced

MDM

Per cent

of school

interrupted

MDM

Total no.

of school

introduced

MDM

Per cent

of school

interrupted

MDM

Total no.

of school

introduced

MDM

Per cent

of school

interrupted

MDM

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Kolkata 64 12.5 (8) 26 11.5 (3) 90 12.2 (11)

Murshidabad 78 11.5 (9) 21 28.6 (6) 99 15.2 (15)

Malda 81 16.0 (13) 18 16.7 (3) 99 16.2 (16)

Jalpaiguri 82 19.5 (16) 18 33.3 (6) 100 22.0 (22)

Total 305 15.1 (46) 83 21.7 (18) 388 16.5 (64)

*Figures in parenthesis indicates the number of school

Source: Field Survey

Table-6. Distribution of schools (in per cent) in Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri districts with

respect to the number of SHGs engaged for a school*

District No. of

schools

engaged

SHGs

Per cent

of schools

engaged

one SHG

Per cent

of schools

engaged

two SHGs

Per cent of

schools

engaged

three SHGs

Per cent of

schools

engaged four

or five SHGs

Per cent of

schools

engaged more

than five SHGs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Murshidabad 89 66.3 (59) 14.6 (13) 4.5 (4) 7.9 (7) 6.7 (6)

Malda 96 68.8 (66) 14.6 (14) 5.2 (5) 5.2 (5) 5.2 (5)

Jalpaiguri 94 35.1 (33) 25.5 (24) 19.1 (18) 9.6 (9) 10.6 (10)

Total 279 56.6 (158) 18.3 (51) 9.7 (27) 7.5 (21) 7.5 (21)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school;

Source: Field Survey (responses of service providers)

98  

Table-7. Availability of kitchen cum store in elementary schools of West Bengal (as on March

31, 2013)

District No. of kitchen sanctioned

No. of kitchen completed

No. of kitchen in progress

Per cent of kitchen completed

1 2 3 4 5 Bankura 5125 2890 724 56.4 Birbhum 3732 2726 148 73.0 Burdwan 6449 3244 1598 50.3 Cooch Behar 2760 709 1048 25.7 D/Dinajpur 2299 1783 233 77.6 U/Dinajpur 3091 2566 48 83.0 DGHC 1432 929 50 64.9 Hooghly 3948 2029 1304 51.4 Howrah 3452 1203 231 34.9 Jalpaiguri 3569 1856 81 52.0 Kolkata 1617 106 24 6.6 Malda 3314 1360 1326 41.0 Murshidabad 6443 3937 1244 61.1 E/Medinipur 5793 4857 83 83.8 W/Medinipur 8660 7696 0 88.9 Nadia 4231 2745 181 64.9 N/24 Pgs. 6257 3984 787 63.7 S/24 Pgs. 7136 2902 2421 40.7 Purulia 4276 3351 339 78.4 Siliguri 850 624 14 73.4 TOTAL 84435 51497 11884 61.0

Source: School Education Department, Government of West Bengal

99  

Table-7a. Distribution of schools (in per cent) in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri

that had kitchen shed at the time of survey*

District No. of school

introduced MDM

Kitchen shed

available

Kitchen shed not

available

Kitchen shed under

construction

1 2 3 4 5

Kolkata 90 16.7 (15) 82.2 (74) 1.1 (1)

Murshidabad 99 84.8 (84) 14.0 (14) 1.0 (1)

Malda 99 69.7 (69) 29.3 (29) 1.0 (1)

Jalpaiguri 100 86.0 (86) 14.0 (14) 0.0 (0)

Total 388 65.5 (254) 33.8 (131) 0.8 (3)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school;

Source: Field Survey (teachers’ responses)

Table-7b. Distribution of kitchen/schools (in per cent) in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and

Jalpaiguri with respect to the fuel used for cooking*

District No. of

kitchen/school

Gas Kerosene Wood or any

other plant

Other solid fuels

1 2 3 4 5

Kolkata 55 # 80.0 (44) 14.5 (8) 0.0 5.5 (3)

Murshidabad 99 2.0 (2) 0.0 75.8 (75) 22.2 (22)

Malda 99 8.1 (8) 0.0 85.9 (85) 6.1 (6)

Jalpaiguri 100 4.0 (4) 0.0 96.0 (96) 0.0

Total 353 16.4 (58) 2.3 (8) 72.5 (256) 8.8 (31)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school; # One service provider in Kolkata refused

to respond;

Source: Field Survey (responses of service providers)

100  

Table-8. Distribution of schools (in per cent) that had kitchen shed at the time of survey but

storing kitchen devices in other places* 

District Total

no.

school

kitchen

cum

Store

Class room

Office

room

Other

room

Other School

Places

other than

school

Don’t

know #

Kolkata 15 80.0 (12)

0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 0.0 6.7 (1) 0.0 (0) 13.3 (2)

Murshidabad 84 71.4 (60)

11.9 (10)

4.8 (4) 0.0 (0) 1.2 (1) 10.7 (9) 0.0 (0)

Malda 69 63.8 (44)

17.4 (12)

8.7 (6) 5.8 (4) 0.0 (0) 4.3 (3) 0.0 (0)

Jalpaiguri 86 76.7 (66)

14.0 (12)

7.0 (6) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 2.3 (2) 0.0 (0)

Total 254 71.7 (182)

13.4 (34)

6.3 (16) 1.6 (4) 0.8 (2) 5.5 (14) 0.8 (2)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school; # Kitchen sheds in few schools of Kolkata

were not used for MDM programme. MDM was supplied there from central kitchens situated

outside the school.

Source: Field Survey

101  

Table-9. Variation in type of utensils (in per cent) that had shortage at the time of survey in

Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri*

District Number of

responses#

Handi Karai Gamla/

Dekchi/

Nouka

Dhakna Hata/

Khunti

Bucket Others

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Kolkata 9 11.1 (1) 55.6 (5) 66.7 (6) 11.1 (1) 44.4

(4) 0.0 (0) 11.1

(1)

Murshidabad 43 4.7 (2) 27.9 (12)

55.8 (24) 27.9 (12)

79.1 (34)

76.7 (33)

11.6 (5)

Malda 47 23.4 (11) 29.8

(14) 29.8 (14) 31.9

(15) 48.9 (23)

66.0 (31)

10.6 (5)

Jalpaiguri 68 1.5 (1) 42.6 (29)

45.6 (31) 20.6 (14)

58.8 (40)

73.5 (50)

5.9 (4)

Total 167 9.0 (15) 35.9

(60) 44.6 (75) 25.1

(42) 60.5 (101)

68.3 (114)

9.0 (15)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of responses; # Some respondents were common for 28 schools in Kolkata where central kitchens were functional and one respondent declined to respond in Kolkata; Source: Field Survey (responses of service providers)

Table-10. Distribution of schools (in per cent) with respect to the source of drinking water for

children*

District Total no. of

school

Tap water Tube well Well Children bringing

water with them

1 2 3 4 5 6

Kolkata 90 81.1 (73) 12.2 (11) 0.0 (0) 6.7 (6)

Murshidabad 99 15.2 (15) 83.8 (83) 0.0 (0) 1.0 (1)

Malda 99 13.1 (13) 87.9 (87) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0)

Jalpaiguri 100 12.0 (12) 84.0 (84) 4.0 (4) 0.0 (0)

Total 388 29.1 (113) 68.3 (265) 1.0 (4) 1.8 (7)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school;

Source: Field Survey

102  

Table-11. Distribution of schools (in per cent) with respect to the source of water for cooking

MDM*

District Total no. of school Tap water Tube well Well

1 2 3 4 5

Kolkata 55# 96.4 (53) 3.6 (2) 0.0 (0)

Murshidabad 99 13.1 (13) 85.9 (85) 1.0 (1)

Malda 99 52.5 (52) 47.5 (47) 0.0 (0)

Jalpaiguri 100 16.0 (16) 76.0 (76) 8.0 (8)

Total 353 38.0 (134) 59.5 (210) 2.5 (9)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of responses; # Some respondents were common for

28 schools in Kolkata as central kitchens were functional there and one respondent declined to

respond in Kolkata;

Source: Field Survey (responses of service providers)

Table-12. Responses of children for not availing MDM in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and

Jalpaiguri*

District No.

of

child

ren

Quality/

taste of

food not

satisfactory

Not

clean &

hygienic

Food brought

from home/

eaten at home

Feeling un-

comfortable

to eat at

school

Rice

not

preferr

ed

Other

reasons

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Kolkata 41 68.3 (28) 31.7 (13) 22.0 (9) 2.4 (1) 7.3 (3) 4.9 (2)

Murshidabad 19 36.8 (7) 15.8 (3) 26.3 (5) 5.3 (1) 5.3 (1) 31.6 (6)

Malda 7 42.9 (3) 28.6 (2) 0.0 (0) 14.3 (1) 0.0 (0) 14.3 (1)

Jalpaiguri 13 84.6 (11) 0.0 (0) 7.7 (1) 7.7 (1) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0)

Total 80 61.3 (49) 22.5 (18) 18.8 (15) 5.0 (4) 5.0 (4) 11.3 (9)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of responses and it exceeds the total number of

children as responses were not mutually exclusive;

Source: Field Survey

103  

Table-13. Opinion of parents (in per cent) on the quantity of rice and other items of menu

reportedly whose children availing MDM in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri*

District No. of

total

responses

Rice & other

items both

sufficient

Rice

sufficient

but other

items not

sufficient

Rice not

sufficient but

other items

sufficient

Rice &

other items

both not

sufficient

No

response

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Kolkata 339 81.7 (277) 5.0 (17) 1.5 (5) 8.8 (30) 2.9 (10)

Murshidabad 470 56.6 (266) 17.2 (81) 3.4 (16) 19.4 (91) 3.4 (16)

Malda 488 63.7 (311) 14.5 (71) 11.3 (55) 8.4 (41) 2.0 (10)

Jalpaiguri 477 69.8 (333) 19.1 (91) 1.7 (8) 8.2 (39) 1.3 (6)

Total 1774 66.9 (1187) 14.7 (260) 4.7 (84) 11.3 (201) 2.4 (42)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school;

Source: Field Survey

Table-14. Share of children in the enrolment (in per cent) on the basis of their social identity in

Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri*

District Total Enrolment Share of SC Share of ST Share of Muslim Share of Others

1 2 3 4 5 6

Kolkata 14603 11.8 1.0 20.6 66.6

Murshidabad 25445 9.1 1.0 76.8 13.1

Malda 16505 25.7 6.5 54.7 13.1

Jalpaiguri 15173 40.5 27.8 14.7 17.0

Total 71726 20.2 8.0 47.2 24.6

*Enrolment of 6 schools in Malda was not added in the total enrolment as their division based on social

identity was not available;

Source: Field Survey

104  

Table-15. Responses of teachers (in per cent) citing reasons for not availing MDM by the

children in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri*

District No. of

responses

Quality

of rice

poor

Quality of

other

items poor

Food brought

from home/

eaten at home

Children coming

from solvent

background

Other

reasons

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Kolkata 41 48.8 (20) 58.5 (24) 29.3 (12) 7.3 (3) 7.3 (3)

Murshidabad 21 4.8 (1) 9.5 (2) 38.1 (8) 33.3 (7) 14.3 (3)

Malda 8 0.0 (0) 12.5 (1) 0.0 (0) 37.5 (3) 50.0 (4)

Jalpaiguri 15 13.3 (2) 40.0 (6) 33.3 (5) 20.0 (3) 26.7 (4)

Total 85 27.1 (23) 38.8 (33) 29.4 (25) 18.8 (16) 16.5 (14)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school;

Source: Field Survey

Table-16. Distribution of schools (in per cent) with respect to the contents of MDM records

maintained by teachers in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri*

District No. of

responses

Showed

register

Containing

records on

rice

Containing

menu/number

of children

Expenditures

of money

Others

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Kolkata 14 # 64.3 (9) 28.6 (4) 42.9 (6) 42.9 (6) 0.0 (0)

Murshidabad 99 81.8 (81) 78.8 (78) 31.3 (31) 47.5 (47) 2.0 (2)

Malda 99 81.8 (81) 38.4 (38) 63.6 (63) 48.5 (48) 1.0 (1)

Jalpaiguri 100 65.0 (65) 47.0 (47) 52.0 (52) 10.0 (10) 7.0 (7)

Total 312 75.6 (236) 53.5 (167) 48.7 (152) 35.6 (111) 3.2 (10)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school; # There was no system of maintenance of register except a sheet containing menu and number of children for those schools where MDM was supplied from central kitchens and MDM was not functional in 1 school that engaged CEI. These schools are excluded here; Source: Field Survey

105  

Table-17. Distribution of service providers (in per cent) with respect to the Contents of MDM

records maintained by them in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri*

District No. of

responses #

Showed

register

Containing

records on

ingredients

Containing

menu/number of

child ate MDM

Containing

records on

rice

1 2 3 4 5 6

Kolkata 40 45.0 (18) 15.0 (6) 5.0 (2) 32.5 (13)

Murshidabad 34 35.3 (12) 35.3 (12) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0)

Malda 38 23.7 (9) 10.5 (4) 18.4 (7) 0.0 (0)

Jalpaiguri 58 27.6 (16) 13.8 (8) 13.8 (8) 0.0 (0)

Total 175 31.4 (55) 17.1 (30) 9.7 (17) 7.4 (13)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school; # Responses for those service providers were taken where the accounts, as per teachers, were maintained by the service providers; responses were not mutually exclusive;

Source: Field Survey

Table-18. Opinion of parents (in per cent) with respect to negative impact of MDM in Kolkata,

Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri*

* Responses were not mutually exclusive and figures in parenthesis indicate the number of responses; Source: Field Survey

District No. of parents

Reduction in time for teaching-learning

Diversion in attention of children towards MDM from study

Increase in possibility of accident

Division among children

Source of tension

1 2 3 4 7 8 9

Kolkata 395 2.3 (9) 2.3 (9) 0.3 (1) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0)

Murshidabad 494 9.9 (49) 13.0 (64) 2.0 (10) 2.2 (11) 6.1 (30)

Malda 495 15.6 (77) 16.8 (83) 1.6 (8) 2.4 (12) 0.0 (0)

Jalpaiguri 495 2.8 (14) 11.9 (68) 0.0 (0) 0.0 (0) 2.6 (13)

Total 1879 7.9 (149) 11.9 (224) 1.0 (19) 1.2 (23) 2.3 (43)

106  

Table-19. Variations in actions of parents (in per cent) with respect to grievances on MDM

reportedly whose children availing MDM in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri*

District No. of

parents

Complaining

teacher

Complaining service

provider

Did nothing Had no grievance

1 2 3 4 5 6

Kolkata 339 10.0 (34) 0.0 (0) 64.9 (220) 25.1 (85)

Murshidabad 470 25.1 (118) 1.5 (7) 47.9 (225) 25.5 (120)

Malda 488 24.8 (121) 0.0 (0) 49.0 (239) 26.2 (128)

Jalpaiguri 477 19.9 (95) 1.7 (8) 68.1 (325) 10.3 (49)

Total 1774 20.7 (368) 0.8 (15) 56.9 (1009) 21.5 (382)

* Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of responses;

Source: Field Survey (parents’ responses)

Table-20. Distribution of schools (in per cent) in Kolkata, Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri

that introduced MDM and had logo of MDM at the time of visit*

District Primary Other categories All

Total

no. of

school

Proportion of

school having

MDM logo

Total

no. of

school

Proportion of

school having

MDM logo

Total

no. of

school

Proportion of

school having

MDM logo

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Kolkata 64 0.0 (0) 26 0.0 (0) 90 0.0 (0)

Murshidabad 78 28.2 (22) 21 19.0 (4) 99 26.2 (26)

Malda 81 59.3 (48) 18 44.4 (8) 99 56.6 (56)

Jalpaiguri 82 29.3(24) 18 16.7 (3) 100 27.0 (27)

Total 305 30.8 (94) 83 18.1 (15) 388 28.1 (109)

*Figures in parenthesis indicate the number of school;

Source: Field Survey

107  

Appendix-III

Best Practices and Deficiencies

108  

Best Practices and Deficiencies

1. Best Practices

Table-1.1. Best examples of Kitchen built for centralized cooking of MDM

Kitchen built by Location of kitchen

Central kitchen run by

No. of school for which MDM was cooked

No. of children for whom MDM was cooked

Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Bagbazar (North Kolkata)

Iskon Food Relief Foundation

71 5000

Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Tangra (East Kolkata)

Disha Para Samiti 23 1250

Table-1.2. Best practices of arranging separate dinning place for the children to eat MDM

District Name of the School Management

31 Block/Municipality

Kolkata KMCP School, 11B Gowribari Lane 3 Kolkata Municipal Corporation Muslim Orphanage Primary School 1 Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Murshidabad Dharampur Dehipara SSK 12 Murshidabad-Jiaganj

Malda Old Malda K.C High School 1 Old Malda Municipality Para Sumundai Primary School 1 Old Malda Municipality

Jalpaiguri

Nagrakata ST.Marry's Boding School 1 Nagrakata Majherdabri T.G. SC Primary School 1 Alipurduar-II Alipurduar High School 1 Alipurduar Municipality Uttarpara G.S.F.P School 1 Alipurduar Municipality

Table-1.3. Good practices of arranging plates by the school for the children to eat MDM

District Name of the School Management Block/Municipality

Kolkata KMCP School, 11B Gowribari Lane 3 Kolkata Municipal Corporation KMCP School, 3 Goal Tuli Lane 3 Kolkata Municipal Corporation Ramkrishna Nagar GSFP School 1 Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Malda Alipur Madrasa Siksha Kendra 13 Kaliachak-1

Jalpaiguri Purba Khairbari B.F.P 1 Madarihat Alipurduar High School 1 Alipurduar Municipality

                                                            31 Management of school has been represented by codes unless mentioned. The codes are followed as School Education Department-1, Municipality/Corporation-3, Panchayat & Rural Development-12, Madrasa Siksha Kendra-13, National Child Labour Project-14 and Madrasa Education-97;

109  

Table-1.4. Good practices of providing better quality of MDM on the day of visit comprising

pulses and vegetables both

District Name of the School Management Block/Municipality

Kolkata Beleghata Deshbandhu High School (Boys) 1 Kolkata Municipal Corporation Taratalan Adarsha Vidyalaya 1 Kolkata Municipal Corporation Dr. B.R.Ambedkar NCLP School 14 Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Murshidabad

Bagrain SSK 12 Khargram Madhunia Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Kandi Nabadurga Uchcha Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Barwan Kalukhali D.M.S. Primary School 1 Bhagawangola-I Simola Jr. High School 1 Raghunathganj-I Etore Santhal Shikshaniketan 1 Nabagram

Malda

Ratua High Madrasa (H.S) 97 Ratua-1 R.N Dutta Primary School 1 English Bazar MunicipalityN.M.S H/A Primary School 1 Kaliachak-1 Khasimari Primary School 1 English Bazar Ashok Nagar Calony Primary School 1 Manikchak Gharitola Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Manikchak

Jalpaiguri

Harijanbosti SSK 3 Jalpaiguri MunicipalityChuapara T.G Hindi JR. High School 1 Kalchini Samuktala JR. Girls High School 1 Alipurduar-II Phoskadang Sarna Adibasi High School 1 Alipurduar-I Mal R.R.Primary School 1 Mal Municipality Bapuji Adarsha Vidyalaya 1 Nagrakata Patrick MSK 12 MalKohinoor T.G Primary School 1 Alipurduar-II Padmarpar N P School 1 Alipurduar-II Netaji SSK 12 Kumargramduar Beech T.G Haldibari Primary School 1 Kalchini

110  

Table-1.5. Name of the Service Providers/Schools where service providers were found to

maintain records of ingredients used for MDM

District Name of the Service Provider /School

Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Kolkata

Disha Para Samiti NHC Kolkata Municipal CorporationRas Sundari Swayambhar Gosthy NHC Kolkata Municipal CorporationAmader Podokshep NHC Kolkata Municipal CorporationIskon Food Relief Foundation NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationAASTHA NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationDweepjyoti NGO Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Murshidabad

Sarsabad Mathpara SSK 12 Baharampur Ratanpur Hiramoti Dey G.S.F.P 1 Murshidabad MunicipalityKhagra Municipality Pry. School 3 Baharampur MunicipalitySiddheswari High School 1 Barwan9 No. Birampur Pry. School 1 LalgolaBalihari Kanapara SSK 12 Nowda58 No. Shibnagar Pry. School 1 NowdaSimola Jr. High School 1 Raghunathganj-I Etore Santhal Shikshaniketan 1 Nabagram Natun Shikdarpur C.G.S Prathmik Vidyalaya 1 Samsherganj 53 No. Baromasiya Pashchimpara Primary School 1 JalangiNait Baidara Sishu Sramik Vidyalaya 14 Raghunathganj - I

Malda

Para Sumundai Primary School 1 Old Malda Munipality Niar Gopalpur Primary School 1 Harishchandrapur-1 Palashbari SSK 12 English Bazar Nadapara SSK 12 Chanchal-II

Jalpaiguri

Chuapara T.G Hindi JR. High School 1 Kalchini Phoskadang Sarna Adibasi High School 1 Alipurduar-I Patrick MSK 12 MalDamanpur High School 1 Kalchini Majherdabri T.G. SC Primary School 1 Alipurduar-II Netaji Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Purba Nararthali SSK Nipen Das 12 Kumargramduar

111  

Table-1.6. Best practices of maintaining hygiene on the day of visit while preparing MDM for

the children

District Name of the Service Provider /School

Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Kolkata

Iskon Food Relief Foundation NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationAnanya Neighbourhood Committee NHC Kolkata Municipal CorporationDisha Para Samiti NHC Kolkata Municipal CorporationPurbachal Vidyalaya CEI Kolkata Municipal CorporationRamkrishna Nagar GSFP School CEI Kolkata Municipal CorporationTaratalan Adarsha Vidyalaya CEI Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Malda Piasbari Mgd. Primary School 1 English Bazar Kumbhira Primary School 1 Kaliachak-3

Jalpaiguri Purba Khairbari B.F.P 1 Madarihat

Table-1.7. Good practices of displaying necessary information of MDM (allocation of rice,

allocation of conversion cost, menu and number of children present) on the day of visit

District Name of the School Management Block/Municipality

Murshidabad Masundi Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Bharatpur-IChhatumara Pry. School 1 Nowda

Malda Ratua High Madrasa (H.S) 97 Ratua-1

Jalpaiguri Padmarpar N P School 1 Alipurduar-IINetaji SSK 12 Kumargramduar

112  

2. Deficiencies

Table-2.1. Name of the schools that did not provide MDM at least for one month or more

preceding the day of visit along with the day of visit

District Name of the School Stop for

Reason for interruption

Date of visit

Manage ment

Block/ Municipality

Kolkata*

Madrasa Ahmedia (day) 2 years reason not clear 04.12.12 1

Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Anjalika Vidyalaya 3 months

problem in service of NGO 10.1.13 1

Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Nari Siksha Mandir 1 month

problem in service of NGO 02.02.13 1

Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Khalsa Girls' High School 8 months

problem in service of NGO 11.02.13 1

Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Jawaharlal Nehru Vidyapith 10 months

building under construction 28.02.13 1

Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Mominpur U.P School 6 months

problem in service of NGO 28.02.13 1

Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Murshi- dabad

Beldanga C.R.G.S High School 3 months

kitchen under construction 19.01.13 1

Beldanga Municipality

Malda Jasarot tola Primary School 3 months

kitchen under repairing 27.02.13 1 Manikchak

Jalpaiguri

Purbanchal High School 3 months reason not clear 21.01.13 1

Jalpaiguri Municipality

Baniapara Chowrashta High School 3 months reason not clear 18.02.13 1 Dhupguri

* MDM was not functional in all the schools of Kolkata mentioned here, i.e. those schools were

without any service provider for MDM at the time of visit.

113  

Table-2.2. Name of the schools that reportedly did not receive order for providing MDM on

Saturday

District Name of the School Management Block/Municipality

Kolkata Sisu Shikshalaya (Day) 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationTaltala High School (Girls) 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationParvez Shahedi SSK 3 Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Murshidabad

Bagrain SSK 12 Khargram Ramchandrapur SSK 12 Khargram Siddheswari High School 1 BarwanMominabad Najrul M.S.K. 12 Nabagram

Beldanga C.R.G.S High School 1 Beldanga Municipality Lalgola M.N.Academy 1 LalgolaNajirpur Esserpara High School 1 Raninagar-I Etore Santhal Shikshaniketan 1 Nabagram Bhatshala Kaloni SSK 12 Domkal Uttar Mamammad Jr. High School 1 Samsherganj Sarulia Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Beldanga-I

Malda

Piasbari Mgd. Primary School 1 English Bazar Palashbari SSK 12 English Bazar Kachalitola SSK 12 Kaliachak-2 Fatepur Primary School 1 English Bazar Raghunathpur Primary School 1 GazoleNasarpur Primary School 1 Harishchandrapur-1 Khasimari Primary School 1 English Bazar Laxmipur Jr. Basic Primary School 1 English Bazar Chandipur Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Chanchal-1 Bilasihat SSK 12 Harishchandrapur-1 Kashipur Prathamik Vidyalay 1 Harishchandrapur-1 Bairat Managed Primary School 1 Harishchandrapur-1 Gharitola Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Manikchak

Jalpaiguri Sardar Para Harimandir B.F.P.School 1 Jalpaiguri Sadar

114  

Table-2.3. Name of the schools in Murshidabad, Malda and Jalpaiguri where more than 5 SHGs

were engaged for the same school

District Name of the School Management Block/Municipality

Murshidabad

Ramnapara Primary School 1 Bhagawangola-II64 No. Bota Bishnupur Pry. School 1 Raninagar-I Najirpur SSK 12 Bhagawangola-IIEtore Santhal Shikshaniketan 1 Nabagram 32No. Kaliganj Primary School 1 Jalangi Arjunpur High School 1 Farakka

Malda

Protappur Meher Biswastola Primary School 1 Kaliachak-II Narayanpur Junior High School 1 Old Malda Muktakesi Bholanath High School 1 Kaliachak-II Sultanganj Bathan SSK 12 Kaliachak-I Birampur Primary School 1 Kaliachak-II

Jalpaiguri

Mohitnagar R.R.Primary School 1 Jalpaiguri SadarDanga Para SSK 12 Jalpaiguri SadarPhoskadang SAENA Adibasi High School 1 Alipurduar-I Tasati Baraline SSK 12 Falakata Chawaidangi S.P.Primary School 1 Rajganj Maringa Jhora B.F.P School 1 Rajganj Lolaram Oraon SSK 12 Falakata Majherdabri T.G. SC Primary School 1 Alipurduar-II Chapatali no1 S.P Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Padmarpar N P School 1 Alipurduar-II Netaji SSK 12 Kumargramduar

Table-2.4. Name of some schools in Murshidabad district where responsibility of handling

conversion cost was transferred to teachers from SHGs

District Name of the School Management Block/Municipality

Murshidabad

Kalukhali D.M.S. Primary School 1 Bhagawangola-I Najirpur SSK 12 Bhagawangola-II Mehedipara Haji Jafar Madrasah Siksha Kendra 13 Domkal Sarulia Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Beldanga-I

115  

Table-2.5. Name of the schools where cooking was taking place in other place than the kitchen-

cum-store in spite of availability of kitchen-cum-store

District Name of the School Management Block/Municipality

Murshidabad

Dangapara Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Kandi Sardanga Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Bharatpur-I Joynagar Primary School 1 Beldanga-II Dadpur High School 1 Beldanga-II

Malda

Sihipur Mgd. Primary School 1 Chanchal-1 Baharal Sahapur Primary School 1 Ratua-1 Paschim Rukundipur Dhulipara SSK 12 Ratua-1 Durgapur Paschimpara SSK 12 Chanchal-1 Ashok Nagar Calony Primary School 1 Manikchak

Table-2.5a. Name of the schools where roof of the kitchen-cum-store became rotten and was not

fit for use in the rainy season

District Name of the School Management Block/Municipality Malda Bagmara Primary School 1 Harishchandrapur-1Jalpaiguri L W C Primary School 1 Madarihat

Table-2.6. Central kitchens/schools facing crisis of utensils as broken utensils were not replaced

District Name of the Service Provider /School

Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Kolkata

Ras Sundari Swayambhar Gosthy NHC Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Disha Para Samiti NHC Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Aamader Podokshep NHC Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Murshi- dabad

Madhupur G.S.F.P School 1 Baharampur MunicipalityBasantapur Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Bhagawangola-I Kumarpur Pry. School 1 Beldanga-I 58 No. Shibnagar Pry. School 1 Nowda62 No. Nandirbhita Pry. School 1 Raninagar-II Sarada Ramkrishna Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 JalangiKaliganj Haldarpara SSK 12 Jalangi

116  

District Name of the Service Provider /School

Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

32No. Kaliganj Primary School 1 Jalangi

Murshi- dabad

36 No. Domadi Primary School 1 Jalangi53 No. Baromasiya Pashchimpara Primary School 1 Jalangi27no.Natun Aurangabad Primary 1 Suti-IIGokulta Primary School 1 Sagardighi 10No. Haldi Jr.Basic School 1 Sagardighi Sarulia Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Beldanga-I

Malda

Madnahar Junior High School 1 GazoleHorinkole Primary School 1 Ratua-1Palash Bari Primary School 1 Bamongola Mayanafalla Junior Basic 1 Bamongola Bagmara Primary School 1 Harishchandrapur-1 Dharara Madanpur Primary School 1 Kaliachak-1 Serpur Fakatala SSK 12 Chanchal-2 Purba Parahar SSK 12 GazoleLokrigola Matiari Primary School 1 Ratua-1Bhajanna Primary School 1 Harishchandrapur-2 Chandipur Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Chanchal-1 Mahanandapur Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Chanchal-2

Jalpai-guri

Shikarpur T.G.Primary School 1 RajganjPanda Para Kalibari By-pass SSK 12 Jalpaiguri Sadar Samuktala JR. Girls High School 1 Alipurduar-II Khayerbari High Madrasah 97 Madarihat Mal R.R.Primary School 1 Mal Municipality Damanpur High School 1 Kalchini Nagrakata ST.Marry's Boding School 1 Nagrakata Gairkata Girls' High School 1 Dhupguri Fulomoti SSK 12 Falakata Notahara Primary School 1 Falakata Hazipara Chhamiria Madrasha Siksha Kendra 13 Dhupguri Purba Khairbari B.F.P 1 Madarihat Shyama Prasad R.R.Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Dhowlabasti SSK 12 Alipurduar-II Netaji Vidyapith 1 Dhupguri Debkota ITDP Primary School 1 Madarihat Uttar Shishubari ITDP Primary School 1 Madarihat

117  

District Name of the Service Provider /School

Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Jalpai-guri

Railway Hindi S.P Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Beech T.G Haldibari Primary School 1 Kalchini Padmarpar N P School 1 Alipurduar-II Teli Para T.G Primary School 1 Dhupguri Madhya Daukimari SSK 12 Dhupguri Dhupguri Mouza Primary School 1 Dhupguri Khayerbari Camp SSK 12 Alipurduar-I Patkapara Chabagan SSK 12 Alipurduar-I Tapsikhata Bastari SSK 12 Alipurduar-I Prodhanpara S/C Primary School 1 Dhupguri Karjipara B.F.P School 1 Dhupguri Birpara State Plan Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Chhota Daldali New Primary School 1 Kumargramduar Kumargram SSK Thakur Minj House 12 Kumargramduar

Table-2.7. Name of the schools that had no facility of drinking water inside or adjacent to the

school

District Name of the School Management Block/Municipality

Kolkata

Sri Balirishna Vidyalaya 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationGandhi Vidyalaya 1 Kolkata Municipal Corporationpurbachal vidyalaya 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationWest Chowbagha F.P School 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationRashtriya Hindi G.S.F.P School 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationKMCP School (D), 49A Matheswartala Road 3 Kolkata Municipal CorporationRadha Krishna Vidyapith 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationDr. B.R.Ambedkar NCLP School 14 Kolkata Municipal CorporationVIP Masjid N.C.L.P Center 14 Kolkata Municipal CorporationArobinda Vidyapith SSK 3 Kolkata Municipal CorporationJadavpur Madyamik Vidyalaya (Girls) 1 Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Murshi- dabad

Ramchandrapur SSK 12 Khargram Panthai Khesore Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Khargram Bejpara Girls Junior High School 1 Baharampur Trimohini Girls Madrasah Siksha Kendra 13 Nowda

Jalpai-guri

Dhumchipara T.G Primary School 1 Madarihat Birpara State Plan Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I

118  

Table-2.8. Name of the central kitchen/schools where water for cooking was brought from a

distance of more than 100m

Table-2.9. Schools that did not provide MDM on the day of visit due to no stock of rice

District Name of the School Management Block/Municipality

Kolkata Hemonta SSK 3 Kolkata Municipal CorporationArobinda Vidyapith SSK 3 Kolkata Municipal CorporationKishore Vidyapith Prymary School 1 Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Murshidabad Balutungi Pry .School 1 Lalgola9 No. Birampur Pry. School 1 Lalgola

Malda

Narayanpur Junior High School 1 Old Malda Latasi Primary School 1 Harishchandrapur-II Monohorpur Primary School 1 Habibpur Madantola Adarsha SSK 12 Manikchak

Jalpaiguri New Glencoe Tea Garden SSK 12 MalTapsikhata Bastari SSK 12 Alipurduar-I

District Name of the Service Provider /School

Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Kolkata

Dr. B.R.Ambedkar NCLP School NGO (CLPOA) Kolkata Municipal CorporationAASTHA NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationBowbazar Chhanapatti Educational Welfare Organisation NGO (CLPOA) Kolkata Municipal CorporationAmbedkar SSK NGO (CLPOA) Kolkata Municipal CorporationGardenrich Bangla Basti Academic Development Society NGO (CLPOA) Kolkata Municipal CorporationAamader Podokshep NHC Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Murshidabad

Bagrain SSK 12 Khargram Ramchandrapur SSK 12 Khargram Panthai Khesore Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Khargram Sarangapur High Madrasah 97 Domkal

Malda

Palash Bari Primary School 1 Bamongola Kariali Bazar SSK 12 Harishchandrapur-II Jhagrapathar Jr. High School 1 Ratua-IMadantola Adarsha SSK 12 Manikchak

Jalpaiguri Harijanbosti SSK 3 Jalpaiguri Municipality Chura Bhandar J.B.School 1 Maynaguri Dhumchipara T.G Primary School 1 Madarihat

119  

Table-2.10. Name of the schools/central kitchen where rice was supplied in an interval of two

months or more and were facing the problem of storage

District Name of the Service Provider /School

Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Kolkata Sadvabna NHC Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Murshidabad

Madhunia Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 KandiBaidyapur High School 1 Bharatpur II Pirtala SSK 12 LalgolaSarada Ramkrishna Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Jalangi38 no. Sitanagar Primary School 1 JalangiGhoramara SSK 12 JalangiKaliganj Haldarpara SSK 12 Jalangi27no.Natun Aurangabad Primary 1 Suti-IIPalash Pukur F.P. School 1 Murshidabad-Jiaganj

Malda

Amarpur Junior High School 1 Habibpur Vidyasagar M.S.K 12 Old Malda Latasi Primary School 1 Harishchandrapur-II Mahendra laxmi choudhurypara Primary School 1 Kaliachak-II Kachalitola SSK 12 Kaliachak-II Rangamatia New GSF Primary School 1 Bamongola Madantola Adarsha SSK 12 Manikchak

Table-2.11. Name of the school/service provider that were facing the problem of delay in

payment of conversion cost for more than 3 months

District Name of the School Management Block/Municipality

Kolkata

Haimabati Baniniketan (Day) 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationKMCP School, Kalighat Road 3 Kolkata Municipal CorporationKMCP School, 22 Judge Court 3 Kolkata Municipal CorporationJadavpur Madyamik Vidyalaya (Girls) 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationGardenreach Bangla Basti Academic Development Society* NGO Kolkata Municipal Corporation

* Gardenreach Bangla Basti Academic Development Society is a service provider conducting central

kitchen under umbrella organisation CLPOA

120  

District Name of the School Management Block/Municipality

Murshidabad

Mominabad Najrul M.S.K. 12 Nabagram 64 No. Bota Bishnupur Pry. School 1 Raninagar-I Dighal Kandi SSK 12 Raninagar-I 38 no. Sitanagar Primary School 1 Jalangi 36 No. Domadi Primary School 1 Jalangi 53 No. Baromasiya Pashchimpara Primary School 1 Jalangi Baruya Prathamik Vidyalay 1 Beldanga-I Palash Pukur F.P. School 1 Murshidabad-JiaganjSardanga Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Bharatpur-I Masundi Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Bharatpur-I Nabadurga Uchcha Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Barwan Balihari Kanapara SSK 12 Nowda Etore Santhal Shikshaniketan 1 Nabagram

Malda

Alipur Madrasa Siksha Kendra 13 Kaliachak-1 Adarsapally Primary School 1 Gazole Dharara Madanpur Primary School 1 Kaliachak-1 Dhanarajgram Primary School 1 Manikchak GBS Junior High Madrasha 97 Kaliachak III

Jalpaiguri

Harijanbosti SSK 3 Jalpaiguri MunicipalityChangmari Primary School 1 Maynaguri Haraballav Paul SSK 12 Maynaguri Bangla Jhore SSK 12 Maynaguri Chuapara T.G Hindi JR. High School 1 Kalchini Ankur SSK 12 Dhupguri Kodalkati S.P. Primary School 1 Mal Hai Hai Pathar T.G SSK 12 Mal New Glencoe Tea Garden SSK 12 Mal Nedam T.G Primary School 1 Mal Shyama Prasad R.R.Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Singimari Utter Primary School 1 Jalpaiguri Sadar Berubari Tapasili Free High School 1 Jalpaiguri Sadar Sardar Para Harimandir B.F.P.School 1 Jalpaiguri Sadar Paschim Kumarpara MSK 12 Jalpaiguri Sadar Mohitnagar R.R.Primary School 1 Jalpaiguri Sadar Panda Para Kalibari By-pass SSK 12 Jalpaiguri Sadar Danga Para SSK 12 Jalpaiguri Sadar Gourchandi JR. High School 1 Jalpaiguri Sadar Vedvyas Nepali JR. High School 1 Kalchini Basuardanga MSK 12 Dhupguri

121  

District Name of the School Management Block/Municipality

Jalpaiguri

Phoskadang Sarna Adibasi High School 1 Alipurduar-I Damanpur High School 1 Kalchini Baniapara Chowrashta High School 1 Dhupguri Gairkata Girls' High School 1 Dhupguri Hazipara Chhamiria Madrasha Siksha Kendra 13 Dhupguri Chapatali no1 S.P Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Netaji Vidyapith 1 Dhupguri Netaji Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Silbari Patlakhowa B.F.P School 1 Alipurduar-I Teli Para T.G Primary School 1 Dhupguri Khayerbari Camp SSK 12 Alipurduar-I Patkapara Chabagan SSK 12 Alipurduar-I Netaji SSK 12 KumargramduarTapsikhata Bastari SSK 12 Alipurduar-I Prodhanpara S/C Primary School 1 Dhupguri Karjipara B.F.P School 1 Dhupguri Shahid Kudhiram SSK 12 Alipurduar-II Kumargram SSK Thakur Minj House 12 KumargramduarPurba Nararthali SSK Nipen Das 12 Kumargramduar

Table-2.12. Name of the schools where even 20 per cent school attending children did not

availed MDM on the day of visit

District Name of the School Management Block/Municipality

Kolkata

Sri Balkrishna Vidyalaya 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationShyambazar A.V. School (Morning) 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationBarisha Vivekanda High School 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationCossipore Aman JR High School 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationDr. Shyamaprasad Mukheri Institute 1 Kolkata Municipal Corporation

122  

Table-2.13. Name of the schools/central kitchen where stones or insects or bad smell was found

in rice (food-grain)

District Name of the Service Provider /School

Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Kolkata

HOPES NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationUnique Development Initiative Foundation Organisation NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationSister Nivedita Human Society NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationKolkata Consultants NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationMaha Kaberi Mahilla Swayambar Gosthi NHC Kolkata Municipal CorporationDisha Para Samiti NHC Kolkata Municipal CorporationAmbedkar SSK NGO (CLPOA) Kolkata Municipal CorporationSadvabna NHC Kolkata Municipal CorporationBidya Bithi 1 Kolkata Municipal Corporationpurbachal vidyalaya 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationRamkrishna Nagar GSFP School 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationKMCP School, 58 Narkeldanga North Road 3 Kolkata Municipal CorporationJadavpur Madyamik Vidyalaya (Girls) 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationTaratala Adarsha Vidyalaya 1 Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Murshidabad

Santosh Nagar Taposil Primary School 1 Baharampur Nabadurga Uchcha Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Barwan Trimohini Girls Madrasah Siksha Kendra 13 NowdaChhatumara Pry. School 1 NowdaBalutungi Pry .School 1 Lalgola 9 No. Birampur Pry. School 1 Lalgola Lalgola M.N.Academy 1 Lalgola Balihari Kanapara SSK 12 NowdaPirtala SSK 12 Lalgola 53 No. Baromasiya Pashchimpara Primary School 1 Jalangi

Malda Char Sujapur High School 1 Kaliachak-III Madnahar Junior High School 1 GazoleAmarpur Junior High School 1 Habibpur

123  

District Name of the Service Provider /School

Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Malda

Polashbona Junior High School 1 Ratua-II Old Malda K.C High School 1 Old Malda MunicipalityMuktakesi Bholanath High School 1 Kaliachak-II Horinkole Primary School 1 Ratua-I Amalitola S.S.K 12 Kaliachak-I Pirojpur Idgatola Primary School 1 Kaliachak-I Kadamtali C.S. Primary School 1 Gazole New Sabdalpur Primary School 1 Kaliachak-III Sultanganj Bathan SSK 12 Kaliachak-I Ismailpur Primary School 1 Chanchal-I Ranahat Primary School 1 Habibpur Sundarban SSK 12 Habibpur Paschim Rukundipur Dhulipara SSK 12 Ratua-I Kanchitola Primary School 1 Kaliachak-III Palashbari SSK 12 English Bazar Jasarot tola Primary School 1 Manikchak Purba Parahar SSK 12 Gazole Fatepur Primary School 1 English Bazar Raghunathpur Primary School 1 Gazole Deotala Managed Primary School 1 Gazole Mahespur MSK 12 Gazole Lokrigola Matiari Primary School 1 Ratua-I Durgapur Paschimpara SSK 12 Chanchal-I Jhagrapathar Jr. High School 1 Ratua-I Dhanarajgram Primary School 1 Manikchak Bilasihat SSK 12 Harishchandrapur-I

Jalpaiguri

Shikarpur T.G.Primary School 1 Rajganj Harijanbosti SSK 3 Jalpaiguri MunicipalityGourchandi JR. High School 1 Jalpaiguri Sadar Basuardanga MSK 12 Dhupguri Samuktala JR. Girls High School 1 Alipurduar-II Vedlu Danga SSK 12 Mal Tasati Baraline SSK 12 Falakata Kadambini SSK 12 Falakata Rajadanga Non Formal SSK 12 Mal Baniapara Chowrashta High School 1 Dhupguri

124  

District Name of the Service Provider /School Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Jalpaiguri

Baganbari JR. School 1 Falakata Kanuram Balika Vidyalaya 1 Alipurduar-II Lolaram Oraon SSK 12 Falakata Purba Khairbari B.F.P 1 Madarihat Shyama Prasad R.R.Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Majherdabri T.G. SC Primary School 1 Alipurduar-II Chapatali no1 S.P Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Dhumchipara T.G Primary School 1 Madarihat Uttar Shishubari ITDP Primary School 1 Madarihat Beech T.G Haldibari Primary School 1 Kalchini Uttarpara G.S.F.P School 1 Alipurduar MunicipalityKarjipara B.F.P School 1 Dhupguri Nabanagar Tribel SSK 12 Falakata Birpara State Plan Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Shahid Kudhiram SSK 12 Alipurduar-II Chhota Daldali New Primary School 1 Kumargramduar Kumargram SSK Thakur Minj House 12 Kumargramduar

125  

Table-2.14. Name of the schools/central kitchens that provided very poor quality of food on the

day of visit

District Name of the Service Provider /School

Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Kolkata

HOPES NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationNorth East Calcutta Social Welfare Organisation NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationSouth Calcutta Vivekananda Memorial Organisation NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationSister Nivedita Human Society NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationSouth Calcutta Social Development Organisation NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationRamnagar Lane Forrum of Revolution for Communities Education NGO (CLPOA) Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Murhsidabad 62 No. Nandirbhita Pry. School 1 Raninagar-II Dighal Kandi SSK 12 Raninagar-I

Malda Nasarpur Primary School 1 Harishchandrapur - I Nirmal Dihi SSK 12 Ratua-I

Jalpaiguri Telipara T G Primary School 1 Dhupguri Chapatali no1 S.P Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I

Table-2.15. Name of the schools/central kitchen that did not wash vegetables well on the day of visit

District Name of the Service Provider /School

Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Kolkata

HOPES NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationNorth East Calcutta Social Welfare Organisation NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationDweepjyoti NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationUnique Development Initiative Foundation Organisation NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationSister Nivedita Human Society NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationJyoti Neighbourhood Committee NHC Kolkata Municipal Corporation

126  

District Name of the Service Provider /School

Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Kolkata

South Calcutta Social Development Organisation NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationMahila Kala Shiksha aur Seva Kendra NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationSubhalakshmi NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationGardenreach Bangla Basti Academic Development Society NGO (CLPOA) Kolkata Municipal CorporationBowbazar Chhanapatti Educational Welfare Organisation NGO (CLPOA) Kolkata Municipal CorporationSadvabna NHC Kolkata Municipal CorporationSouth Behala Primary School (Day) 1 Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Murshidabad

Sarsabad Mathpara SSK 12 Baharampur Dabkai Natunpara SSK 12 Baharampur Char Mahula Uttar SSK 12 Baharampur Dangapara Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 KandiSalar Adarsha SSK 12 Bharatpur - II Jagannathpur Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Barwan Ruppur Durgadas Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Kandi Municipality Madhunia Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 KandiPanthai Khesore Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Khargram Kalukhali D.M.S. Primary School 1 Bhagawangola-I Basantapur Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Bhagawangola-I Dangapara Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Bhagawangola-I Ramnapara Primary School 1 Bhagawangola-II Bhawanipur Pry. School 1 Hariharpara Dadpur High School 1 Beldanga-II Siddheswari High School 1 Barwan Balihari Kanapara SSK 12 NowdaNajirpur Esserpara High School 1 Raninagar-I 62 No. Nandirbhita Pry. School 1 Raninagar-II Najirpur SSK 12 Bhagawangola-II Pirtala SSK 12 Lalgola Sarangapur High Madrasah 97 Domkal Ramnagar SSK 12 Lalgola Mehedipara Haji Jafar Madrasah Siksha Kendra 13 Domkal

127  

District Name of the Service Provider /School Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Murshidabad

Sarada Ramkrishna Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Jalangi 38 no. Sitanagar Primary School 1 Jalangi 3no.Hogladair Biswaspara Dr. Rameswar Primary School 1 Jalangi Ghoramara SSK 12 Jalangi 32No. Kaliganj Primary School 1 Jalangi Natun Shikdarpur C.G.S Prathmik Vidyalaya 1 Samsherganj 53 No. Baromasiya Pashchimpara Primary School 1 Jalangi Dharampur Dehipara SSK 12 Murshidabad-JiaganjPopara Haji Hasan Ali M.S.K.* 12 Sagardighi 14 no. Giriya Kismat Prathamik Vidyalaya* 1 Raghunathganj-IIGokulta Primary School* 1 Sagardighi 10No. Haldi Jr.Basic School* 1 Sagardighi

Malda

Alipur Madrasa Siksha Kendra 13 Kaliachak-1 Adarsapally Primary School 1 Gazole Horinkole Primary School 1 Ratua-1 Palash Bari Primary School 1 Bamongola Sihipur Mgd. Primary School 1 Chanchal-1 Niar Gopalpur Primary School 1 Harishchandrapur-1Serpur Fakatala SSK 12 Chanchal-2 Sundarban SSK 12 Habibpur Baharal Sahapur Primary School 1 Ratua-1 Baliadanga Namopara SSK 12 Kaliachak-1 Chatiantola Managed Primary School 1 Kaliachak-2 Raghunathpur Primary School 1 Gazole Dhangara Jr. Basic School 1 Chanchal-2 Ashok Nagar Calony Primary School 1 Manikchak

Jalpaiguri

Shikarpur T.G.Primary School 1 Rajganj Harijanbosti SSK 3 Jalpaiguri MunicipalityRamshai Khudi Primary School 1 Maynaguri Basuardanga MSK 12 Dhupguri Samuktala JR. Girls High School 1 Alipurduar-II Kanta Dighi Kumarpara S/C Primary School 1 Mal Vedlu Danga SSK 12 Mal

* Vegetables were not washed at all in these schools;

128  

District Name of the Service Provider /School Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Jalpaiguri

Tasati Baraline SSK 12 Falakata Damanpur High School 1 Kalchini Fulomoti SSK 12 Falakata Notahara Primary School 1 Falakata Beech T.G Haldibari Primary School 1 Kalchini Dhupguri Mouza Primary School 1 Dhupguri Netaji SSK 12 Kumargramduar

Table-2.16. Name of the schools/central kitchens that did not cover cooked meal on the day of visit

District Name of the Service Provider /School

Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Kolkata

HOPES NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationUnique Development Initiative Foundation Organisation NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationSouth Calcutta Social Development Organisation NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationRas Sundari Swayambhar Gosthy NHC Kolkata Municipal CorporationMahila Kala Shiksha aur Seva Kendra NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationDisha Para Samiti NHC Kolkata Municipal CorporationSister Nivedita Neighbourhood Committee NHC Kolkata Municipal CorporationGardenreach Bangla Basti Academic Development Society NGO (CLPOA) Kolkata Municipal CorporationRamkrishna Nagar GSFP School 1 Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Murshidabad

Purba Trimohini SSK 12 NowdaRamnagar SSK 12 LalgolaGhoramara SSK 12 JalangiNatun Shikdarpur C.G.S Prathmik Vidyalaya 1 Samsherganj 36 No. Domadi Primary School 1 Jalangi

Malda Amarpur Junior High School 1 Habibpur Polashbona Junior High School 1 Ratua-2Adarsapally Primary School 1 Gazole

129  

District Name of the Service Provider /School Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Malda

Muktakesi Bholanath High School 1 Kaliachak-II Horinkole Primary School 1 Ratua-I Niar Gopalpur Primary School 1 Harishchandrapur-ISundarban SSK 12 Habibpur Baharal Sahapur Primary School 1 Ratua-I Uttar Maharajpur Primary School 1 Ratua-II Fatepur Primary School 1 English Bazar Atgram Kachamitha SSK 12 Gazole Nirmal Dihi SSK 12 Ratua-I Rangamatia New GSF Primary School 1 Bamongola Nasarpur Primary School 1 Harishchandrapur-IJhagrapathar Jr. High School 1 Ratua-I

Jalpaiguri

Shikarpur T.G.Primary School 1 Rajganj Changmari Primary School 1 Maynaguri Ramshai Khudi Primary School 1 Maynaguri Kanta Dighi Kumarpara S/C Primary School 1 Mal Kadambini SSK 12 Falakata Hai Hai Pathar T.G SSK 12 Mal Baganbari JR. School 1 Falakata Kanuram Balika Vidyalaya 1 Alipurduar-II Lolaram Oraon SSK 12 Falakata Shyama Prasad R.R.Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Majherdabri T.G. SC Primary School 1 Alipurduar-II Chapatali no1 S.P Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Hamiltangonj Bord Free Primary School 1 Kalchini Alipurduar High School 1 Alipurduar MunicipalityBirpara Bagan Hindi Primary School 1 Madarihat Teli Para T.G Primary School 1 Dhupguri Jogendra Nagar New Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Karjeepara Primary School 1 Falakata Ramzan Ali Smriti SSK 12 Falakata Birpara State Plan Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I

130  

Table-2.17. Name of the schools/kitchens that washed utensils without soap on the day of visit

District Name of the Service Provider /School

Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Kolkata Gardenrich Slum Development NGO Kolkata Municipal CorporationSouth Behala Primary School 1 Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Murshidabad

Sarsabad Mathpara SSK 12 Baharampur Char Mahula Uttar SSK 12 Baharampur Santosh Nagar Taposil Primary School 1 Baharampur Salar Adarsha SSK 12 Bharatpur - II Ruppur Durgadas Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Kandi Municipality Basantapur Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Bhagawangola-I Ramnapara Primary School 1 Bhagawangola-II Kumarpur Pry. School 1 Beldanga-I Panditpur Islamia Senior Madrasah 97 LalgolaMominabad Najrul M.S.K. 12 Nabagram Balihari Kanapara SSK 12 Nowda64 No. Bota Bishnupur Pry. School 1 Raninagar-I Najirpur Esserpara High School 1 Raninagar-I 62 No. Nandirbhita Pry. School 1 Raninagar-II Najirpur SSK 12 Bhagawangola-II Pirtala SSK 12 LalgolaSarangapur High Madrasah 97 DomkalDighal Kandi SSK 12 Raninagar-I 14 no. Giriya Kismat Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Raghunathganj-II Dharampur Dehipara SSK 12 Murshidabad-Jiaganj

Malda

Protappur Meher Biswastola Primary School 1 Kaliachak-II Makhna Kuilpara K.S High School 1 Harishchandrapur-I Palash Bari Primary School 1 Bamongola Mayanafalla Junior Basic 1 Bamongola Kadamtali C.S. Primary School 1 GazoleNiar Gopalpur Primary School 1 Harishchandrapur-I Ranahat Primary School 1 Habibpur

131  

District Name of the Service Provider /School Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Malda

Sundarban SSK 12 Habibpur Balubharat Primary School 1 Harishchandrapur-IAtgram Kachamitha SSK 12 Gazole Lokrigola Matiari Primary School 1 Ratua-I Nadapara SSK 12 Chanchal-II Fichadanga SSK 12 Bamongola Ashok Nagar Calony Primary School 1 Manikchak Chandipur Prathamik Vidyalaya 1 Chanchal-I

Jalpaiguri

Shikarpur T.G.Primary School 1 Rajganj Harijanbosti SSK 3 Jalpaiguri MunicipalityFakirdip S.P.School 1 Rajganj Changmari Primary School 1 Maynaguri Haraballav Paul SSK 12 Maynaguri Vedvyas Nepali JR. High School 1 Kalchini Kanta Dighi Kumarpara S/C Primary School 1 Mal Vedlu Danga SSK 12 Mal Kodalkati S.P. Primary School 1 Mal Bapuji Adarsha Vidyalaya 1 Nagrakata Patrick MSK 12 Mal Hai Hai Pathar T.G SSK 12 Mal Chawaidangi S.P.Primary School 1 Rajganj Sitaguri SSK 12 Rajganj Dabgram Nowapara B.F.P School 1 Rajganj New Glencoe Tea Garden Primary School 1 Mal Chengmari Dangapara Primary School 1 Mal Balidhura Primary School 1 Mal Baganbari JR. School 1 Falakata Gairkata Girls' High School 1 Dhupguri Kanuram Balika Vidyalaya 1 Alipurduar-II Fulomoti SSK 12 Falakata Shyama Prasad R.R.Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Majherdabri T.G. SC Primary School 1 Alipurduar-II Chapatali no1 S.P Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Dhumchipara T.G Primary School 1 Madarihat Uttar Shishubari ITDP Primary School 1 Madarihat

132  

District Name of the Service Provider /School Type of Service Provider /Management of School

Block/Municipality

Jalpaiguri

Beech T.G Haldibari Primary School 1 Kalchini Silbari Patlakhowa B.F.P School 1 Alipurduar-I Jogendra Nagar New Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Birpara State Plan Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Shahid Khudiram SSK 12 Alipurduar-II Chhota Daldali New Primary School 1 KumargramduarKumargram SSK Thakur Minj House 12 Kumargramduar

Table-2.18. Name of the schools that did not even broom the veranda on the day of visit before

providing there MDM to the children

District Name of the School Management Block/Municipality

Kolkata

Rashtriya Hindi G.S.F.P School 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationBeleghata Deshbandhu High School (Boys) 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationChildren Welfare Association High School 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationShri Jnan Bhaskar Vidyalaya (Boys) 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationSree Girija Pathsala 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationKMCP School (D), 78 Bagbazar Street 3 Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Murshidabad

Sarsabad Mathpara SSK 12 Baharampur Maliandi Junior Basic School 1 Barwan62 No. Nandirbhita Pry. School 1 Raninagar-II 32No. Kaliganj Primary School 1 JalangiUttar Mahammadpur N.C.L.P School 14 Samsherganj 46.Bhurkunda Primary School 1 Sagardighi 10No. Haldi Jr.Basic School 1 Sagardighi

Malda

Protappur Meher Biswastola Primary School 1 Kaliachak-II Char Sujapur High School 1 Kaliachak-III Ratua High Madrasa (H.S) 97 Ratua-IMuktakesi Bholanath High School 1 Kaliachak-II Niar Gopalpur Primary School 1 Harishchandrapur-I Serpur Fakatala SSK 12 Chanchal-II Ranahat Primary School 1 Habibpur Sundarban SSK 12 Habibpur

133  

District Name of the School Management Block/Municipality

Malda

Baharal Sahapur Primary School 1 Ratua-I Uttar Maharajpur Primary School 1 Ratua-II Balubharat Primary School 1 Harishchandrapur-I Palashbari SSK 12 English Bazar Atgram Kachamitha SSK 12 Gazole Lokrigola Matiari Primary School 1 Ratua-I Nadapara SSK 12 Chanchal-II

Jalpaiguri

Fakirdip S.P.School 1 Rajganj Changmari Primary School 1 Maynaguri Kodalkati S.P. Primary School 1 MalBapuji Adarsha Vidyalaya 1 Nagrakata Tasati Baraline SSK 12 Falakata Kadambini SSK 12 Falakata Hai Hai Pathar T.G SSK 12 MalMaringa Jhora B.F.P School 1 Rajganj Nedam T.G Primary School 1 MalBaganbari JR. School 1 Falakata Purba Khairbari B.F.P 1 Madarihat Chapatali no1 S.P Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Netaji Vidyapith 1 Dhupguri Uttar Shishubari ITDP Primary School 1 Madarihat Railway Hindi S.P Primary School 1 Alipurduar-I Teli Para T.G Primary School 1 Dhupguri Madhya Daukimari SSK 12 Dhupguri

134  

Table-2.19. Name of the schools where children were not found to wash hands on the day of visit

before taking MDM

District Name of the School Management Block/Municipality

Kolkata

Sri Balirishna Vidyalaya 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationShri Rabindra Sikshayatan 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationAnjuman Imdadia Girls Primary School 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationBeniapukur High Madrasha 97 Kolkata Municipal CorporationSursuna High School 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationTollygunge Ashoknagar Vidyapith 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationKshudiram Vidyamandir 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationShri Jnan Bhaskar Vidyalaya (Boys) 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationSiksha Niketan Vidyalaya For Girls 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationBijoygarh Vidyapith 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationFatepur Hindi Nagari Pracharak Vidyalaya 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationFatepur Oriya G.S.F.P School 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationRadha Krishna Vidyapith 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationHariganga Vidyalaya 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationSukanta Siksha Niketan 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationSraeemati Jahar Nandi Vidyapith 1 Kolkata Municipal CorporationVIP Masjid N.C.L.P Center 14 Kolkata Municipal CorporationParvez Shahedi SSK 3 Kolkata Municipal Corporation

Murshidabad 38 no. Sitanagar Primary School 1 JalangiNatun Shikdarpur C.G.S Prathmik Vidyalaya 1 Samsherganj

Jalpaiguri Patrick MSK 12 Mal

135  

Appendix-IV

Schools Visited

136  

Schools Visited

Kolkata

Sl. No. Name of the school Address

Manage- ment32

Cate-gory33

1 Madrasa Ahmedia (day) 1/2 J.K.Ghosh-Road, Kol-37 (Belgachia) 1 1

2 Sisu Shikshalaya (Day) 65/2 Mandal Street, Kol-6 1 13 Khalsa primary school 15D, J.K. Mitra Road, Kol-37 1 14 Vijaylaxmi Adarsha H. Vidyalaya 1/4 R.M.Road, Kol-37 1 15 Sreema Siksha Sadan 3/102 Ajadgarh, Kol-40 1 1

6 Kumudini Konya Vidyamandir (Morning) 5/1 Olaichandi Road, Kol-37 1 1

7 Sri Balkrishna Vidyalaya 2/1 Ghore Bibi Lane, Kol-54 1 18 Gandhi Vidyalaya 149 North Sealdah Road, Kol-9 1 19 T.H . Pathsala GSFP School 24 Patari Road , Kol-15 1 110 Adarsh Hindi Vidyalaya (Day) 4 B M adhab Das Lane, Kol-7 1 111 Bidya Bithi 48A & 48D Bose Para Lane, Kol-3 1 112 Bapu Hindi Vidyalaya 11/2 Sashi Bhusan Day St, Kol-12 1 113 Anjalika Vidyalaya 223 G Maniktala Main Road, Kol-54 1 114 Sishu Niketan 48/6 Beleghata Main Road, Kol-10 1 115 Lee Memorial Girls School (Day) 13, Raja Subodh Mallick Road, Kol-13 1 1

16 Shyambazar A.V. School (Morning) 88, Shambazar Street, Kol-5 1 1

17 Beniapokher Muslim Girls Primary School 21 Noor Ali Lane, Kol-14 1 1

18 Sree Umapati Vidyamandir 3F Dover Terrace Road, Kol-19 1 119 Purbachal Vidyalaya 1 Purbachal School Road, Kol-78 1 1

20 Bosepukur Dharmatala U.P School 35 Dharmatala Road, Kol-42 1 1

21 Hrishi Bankim Vidyapith 2C Rani Harshamukhi Road, Kol-37 1 122 Subhas Vidyamandir 45/H/12 Muraripukur Road, Kol-54 1 123 Ram Mohan Sishu Vidyalaya 103, Ultodanga Main Road, Kol-67 1 124 Haimabati Baniniketan (Day) Ramlal Bazar Garfa Main Road, Kol-42 1 125 Jogendra Institution 27 Madan Baral Lane, Kol-12 1 126 West Chowbagha F.P School West Chowbagha, Kol-105 1 127 Shri Rabindra Sikshayatan 2/7 Ghosh Bagan Lane, Kol-2 1 1

                                                            32 Management of school has been represented by codes. The codes are followed as School Education Department-1, Municipality/Corporation-3, Panchayat & Rural Development-12, Madrasa Siksha Kendra-13, National Child Labour Project-14 and Madrasa Education-97; 33 Category of school has been represented by codes. The codes are followed as Primary-1, Primary with Upper Primary-2, Primary with Upper Primary and Secondary/Higher Secondary-3, Upper Primary only-4, Upper Primary with Secondary/Higher Secondary-5;

137  

Sl. No. Name of the school Address

Manage- ment

Cate-gory

28 Nari Siksha Mandir 10 Nalin Sarkar Street, Kol-4 1 5

29 Dipak Memorial JR. High School (Boys) 23/1 B/C B.T Road, Kol-2 1 4

30 Shibmandir Prathamik Vidyalaya 2 B Tiljala Shibtala Lane, Kol-39 1 131 Rashtriya Hindi G.S.F.P School 128 Regent Place Regent Park, Kol-40 1 1

32 Beleghata Deshbandhu High School (Boys) 17/2 E Beleghata Main Road, Kol-10 1 5

33 Khanpur Girls High School 316 N.S.C Bose road, Kol-47 1 534 Taltala High School (Girls) 55 S.N. Banerjee Road, Kol-14 1 5

35 Anjuman Imdadia Girls Primary School 12 Balmukund Mackar Road, Kol-7 1 1

36 Barisha Vivekanda High School East Barisha Colony, Kol-63 1 537 Beniapukur High Madrasha 3/H/19 Anjuman Road, Kol-14 97 538 Prantapalli Balika Vidialaya J. Block, Baghajatin Palli Kol-32 1 5

39 Children Welfare Association High School

1. Rakhal Mukherjee Road, Sarsuna Kol-61 1 5

40 Sursuna High School 165 Sarsuna Main Road, Kol-61 1 5

41 Purba Kolikata Vidyalaya 130 Raja Rajendra Lal Mitra Road, Kol-85 1 1

42 Khalsa Girls' High School 73, Padmapukur Road, Kol-20 1 543 Ramkrishna Nagar GSFP School Ramkrishna Nagar Bansdroni, kol-70 1 1

44 Tollygunge Ashoknagar VidyapithTollygunge Ashok Nagar Vidyapiyh, Kol-40 1 5

45 Kshudiram Vidyamandir 42 Bipabi Barin Ghosh Sarani, Kol-67 1 146 The Bhabataran Sarkar Vidyalay 35/2 Bidan Street, Kol-6 1 547 Cossipore Aman Jr. High School 96/H/50 Cossipore Road, Kol-2 1 448 East Calcutta National School 38 Maniktala Main Road, Kol-54 1 5

49 Shri Jnan Bhaskar Vidyalaya (Boys)

11, Dock Estern Boundary Road, Kol-23 1 5

50 Siksha Niketan Vidyalaya For Girls P 176/2 CIT Scheme 7 M, Kol-54 1 5

51 Adbhutananda Bidyamandir 20/12/2/1 Ishwarganguli Street Kol-26 1 152 Jagadbandhu Institution 25 Fern Road, Kol-19 1 5

53 Ananda Ashram Balika Vidyapeeth 352 N.S.C Bose Road, Kol-47 1 5

54 Bijaygarh Vidyapith Bijaygarh, Kol-700032 1 555 KMCP School, Kalighat Road 33 D/E Kalighat Road, Kol-25 3 1

56 KMCP School (Day), 49A Matheswartala Road 49A Matheswartala Road, Kol-46 3 1

57 KMCP School, 7/1 Kuliatangra Lane 7/1 Kulia Tangra 2nd Lane, Kol-15 3 1

138  

Sl. No. Name of the school Address

Manage- ment

Cate-gory

58 KMCP School, 58 Narkeldanga North Road 58 Narkeldanga North Road, Kol-11 3 1

59 Fatepur Hindi Nagari Pracharak Vidyalaya

D 159, Trenching Ground Road, Kol-24 1 5

60 Bijoygarh Siksha Nikatan Regent Street, Kol-92 1 161 South Behala Primary School Khan Mahammad Road, Kol-61 1 1

62 Fatepur Oriya G.S.F.P School M 117/1 Treuching Ground Road, Kol-24 1 1

63 Radha Krishna Vidyapith 156 Masjid Bari Street, Kol-6 1 164 Hariganga Vidyalaya 1 No. Baishnab Seth. 1st Lane, Kol-6 1 1

65 Muslim Orphanage Primary School 8 Sayed Saleh Lane, Kol-73 1 1

66 KMCP School, 22 Judge Court 22 Judge Court, Kol-27 3 1

67 KMCP School, Taratala Staff Colony Taratala Staff Colony, Kol-88 3 1

68 KMCP School, 78 Ezra Street 78 Ezra Street, Kol-1 3 169 Jawaharlal Nehru Vidyapith 5/2 Bhu Kailash Road, Kol-23 1 170 Mominpur U.P School 2, Rajabali Lane Kol-23 1 171 Dr. B.R.Ambedkar NCLP School 120 Tiljala Road, Kol-46 14 1

72 The Calcutta Orfanage Primary School 12/1 Balaram Ghosh Street, Kol-4 1 1

73 Sukanta Siksha Niketan 54 Tollygaunge Road, Kol-26 1 174 Sreemati Jahar Nandi Vidyapith 20/22 Tarak datta Road Kol-19 1 5

75 Ambedkar SSK D/96 East Rajapur, P.O-Santoshpur, Kol-75 3 1

76 Hemanta SSK 30 Fatepur 2nd Lane Kol-24 3 177 Sree Girija Pathsala 42, Shibthakur Lane Kol-7 1 178 KMCP School, 22A Beniatola 22A Beniatola Kol-5 3 1

79 KMCP School (D), 78 Bagbazar Street 78 Bagbazar Street, Kol-3 3 1

80 KMCP School, 11B Gowribari Lane 11B Gouribari Lane, Kol-4 3 1

81 VIP Masjid N.C.L.P Center 36, Topsia Road, Kol-39 14 1

82 Narkeldanga Labbaik Madrasah Siksha Kendra 61, Narkeldanga North Road, Kol-11 13 4

83 Kidderpur Muslim Primary School22/22 & 22/23 Mominpur Road, Kol-23 1 1

84 KMCP School, 3 Goaltuli Lane 3 Goaltuli Lane, Kol-13 3 185 Parvez Shahedi SSK 2 Circus Market Place, Kol-17 3 1

86 Arobinda Vidyapith SSK M 61 Paharpur Road, Sanhati pally, Kol-24 3 1

87 Ram Narayan Siksha Niketan 48 B/H/4 Karl Mark Sarani, Kol-23 1 1

139  

Sl. No. Name of the school Address

Manage- ment

Cate-gory

88 Baptist Girls H.S School 84 Dr.Suresh Sarkar Road, Kol-14 1 589 Hare School 87 College Street Kol-73 1 590 Kishore Vidyapith Primary School 27B/3A Chalpatti Road Kol-10 1 191 Adarsh Hindi Vidyalaya P135/5 Mudiali Road, Kol-24 1 1

92 Kshetra Mohan Vidyamindir (Morning)

2 No. Rabindranagar M.B Roda, Kol-60 1 1

93 Jadavpur Madyamik Vidyalaya (Girls)

10, Bade Raipur Road, Jadavpur, Anandapally Kol-32 1 5

94 Dr. Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Institute

PT 77 C.I.T Narkeldanga Main Road, Kol-54 1 5

95 Narkeldanga Labbaik SSK 61 Narkeldanga North Road, Kol-11 3 196 Santoshpur Vidyamandir For Boys 9 C Priyanath Ghosh Road, Kol-75 1 5

97 Parnasree Siksha Parishad Junior Basic School Parnasree Pally, Kol-60 1 1

98 Taratalan Adarsha Vidyalaya Block B New KPT Colony Taratala, Kol-88 1 1

99 Priyanath Vidyapith Ramkrishnanagar Kol-61 1 1

100 Miranagar Vidya Mandir Day G.S.F.P School 1 Benimaster Lane, Kol-61 1 1

Murshidabad

Sl. No. Name of the school Address

Manage-ment

Cate- gory

Block/Municipality

1 Sarsabad Mathpara SSK Vill- Sarsabad, P.O-Kaladanga 12 1 Baharampur

2 Dabkai Natunpara SSK Vill- Dabkai, P.O- Karnomul 12 1 Baharampur

3 Char Mahula Uttar SSK Panchayet-Rangamati Chandpara 12 1 Baharampur

4 Dayanagar Uttarpara SSK Vill-Sujapur Kumarpur 12 1 Beldanga - I

5 Bagrain SSK Vill- Bagrian, P.O- Sahi Sherpur 12 1 Khargram

6 Gopalpur Dakshinpara SSK P.O-Kasipur 12 1 Beldanga-II

7 Nagar Madrasapara SSK Vill+P.O- Nagar,P.S-Khargram 12 1 Khargram

8 Ramchandrapur SSK Vill- Ramchandrapur, P.O-Aroyali 12 1 Khargram

9 Mohammadpur SSK Vill- Mahammadpur, P.O-Sompara 12 1 Beldanga - II

10 Jinarapara Akshay Smriti Primary School

Vill- Jinarapara, P.O-Saktipur 1 1 Beldanga - II

140  

Sl. No. Name of the school Address

Manage-ment

Cate- gory

Block/ Municipality

11 Santosh Nagar Taposil Primary School

Vill- Santoshnagar, P.O-Srikrishnapur 1 1 Baharampur

12 Bahara Fatepur Primary School

Vill- Bahara, P.O-Tikiyapara 1 1 Baharampur

13 Dangapara Prathamik Vidyalaya

Vill- Dangapara P.O-Mahalandi 1 1 Kandi

14 Salar Adarsha SSKVill- Salar Kajipara, P.O-Salar 12 1 Bharatpur - II

15 Madhupur G.S.F.P School Ward No.-3, Baharampur 1 1 Baharampur Municipality

16 Sardanga Prathamik Vidyalaya

Vill-Sardanga, P.O-Harishchandrapur, P.S-Bharatpur 1 1 Bharatpur-I

17 Masundi Prathamik Vidyalaya

Vill+P.O.- Mashundi, P.S.- Bharatpur 1 1 Bharatpur-I

18 Jagannathpur Prathamik Vidyalaya P.O-Sahora 1 1 Barwan

19 Ruppur Durgadas Prathamik Vidyalaya

Ruppur, P.O-Rajbati Ward No-10 Kandi Municipality, 1 1

Kandi Municipality

20 Madhunia Prathamik Vidyalaya

Vill-Madhuniya,P.O-Kandi 1 1 Kandi

21 Panthai Khesore Prathamik Vidyalaya

Vill-Panthai,P.O-Margram,P.S-Khargram 1 1 Khargram

22 Maliandi Junior Basic School

Vill+P.O.-Maliandi, Block-Kandi 1 1 Barwan

23 Nabadurga Uchcha Prathamik Vidyalaya

Vill+P.O-Nabadurga, P.S-Barwan 1 5 Barwan

24 Azimganj Girls Pry.School

Ajimganj-Jiaganj Municipality, P.S- Jiaganj 1 1

Ajimganj-Jiaganj Municipality

25 Joynagar Primary School Vill-Joynagar, G.P-Andulberiya-II 1 1 Beldanga-II

26 Kalukhali D.M.S. Primary School

Vill-Kalukhali, P.S-Bhagawangola 1 1

Bhagawangola-I

27 Basantapur Prathamik Vidyalaya

Vill-Basantapur, P.S-Bhagawangola 1 1

Bhagawangola-I

28 Ratanpur Hiramoti Dey G.S.F.P

Murhidabad-Jiaganj Municipality 1 1

Murshidabad Municipality

29 Dangapara Prathamik Vidyalaya

Vill-Sadapur, P.O-Bahadurpur, PIN-742135 1 1

Bhagawangola-I

30 Ramnapara Primary School Vill-Ramnapara, Ranitala, PIN-742123 1 1

Bhagawangola-II

31 Bhawanipur Pry. School

Vill-Bhawanipur, P.O-Pratappur, P.S-Hariharpara 1 1 Hariharpara

141  

Sl. No. Name of the school Address

Manage-ment

Cate- gory

Block/ Municipality

32 Kumarpur Pry. School Vill+P.O-Kumarpur, P.S-Beldanga 1 1 Beldanga-I

33 Bejpara Girls Junior High School Vill+P.O- Bejpara, 1 4 Baharampur

34 Maa Sarada Shishu Vidyaniketan Vill+P.O+P.S-Rampara, 12 1 Beldanga-II

35 Dadpur High School Vill+P.O-Dadpur 1 5 Beldanga-II36 Mominpur Halsanapara SSK Vill+P.O-Maminpur 12 1 Domkal

37 Khagra Municipality Pry. School

Ward No.18, Khagra, Baharampur 3 1

Baharampur Municipality

38 Panditpur Islamia Senior Madrasah Vill-Panditpur, G.P-Maya 97 3 Lalgola

39 Siddheswari High School Vill-Siddheswari , P.O-Kuniya, P.S-Barwan 1 5 Barwan

40 Mominabad Najrul M.S.K. Vill-Chandpur, P.O+P.S-Nabagram 12 4 Nabagram

41 Digre Danga Pry. School

Vill-Digridanga, P.S-Panchgram, P.S-Nabagram 1 1 Nabagram

42 Biswanathpur M.S.K. Vill-Biswanathpur, P.O-Sabaldaha P.S-Khargram 12 4 Khargram

43 Baidyapur High School Vill-Baidyapur, P.O-Tneya, P.S-Salar 1 5 Bharatpur II

44 Purba Trimohini SSK Vill+P.O-Trimohini, P.S-Nowda 12 1 Nowda

45 Trimohini Girls Madrasah Siksha Kendra Vill+P.O- Trimohini 13 4 Nowda

46 Beldanga C.R.G.S High School

Word No-18, Beldanga MNC 1 5

Beldanga Municipality

47 Chhatumara Pry. School Vill- Chatumara, P.O-Shamnagar 1 1 Nowda

48 Dadmati Pry. School Vill-Dadmati, P.O-Dabaipur 1 1

Bhagawangola II

49 Barianagar M.S.K.Vill-Bariyanagar, P.O-Chatai 12 4

Bhagawangola-II

50 Balutungi Pry .School

Vill-Balutungi, P.O-Bajupur Madhupur, P.S-Lalgola 1 1 Lalgola

51 9 No. Birampur Pry. School Vill-Birampur, P.O-Lalgola 1 1 Lalgola

52 Lalgola M.N.Academy Vill+P.O-Lalgola, P.S-Lalgola 1 5 Lalgola

53 Balihari Kanapara SSK Vill+P.O-Bali, P.S-Nowda 12 1 Nowda

54 64 No. Bota Bishnupur Pry. School

Vill-Botabisnupur, P.S-Islampur 1 1 Raninagar-I

142  

Sl. No. Name of the school Address

Manage-ment

Cate- gory

Block/ Municipality

55 Najirpur Esserpara High School

Vill- Nagirpur, P.S-Islampur, G.P-Islampur Chak 1 5 Raninagar-I

56 58 No. Shibnagar Pry. School

Vill-Shibnagar, P.S-Nowda, G.P-Nowda 1 1 Nowda

57 62 No. Nandirbhita Pry. School

Vill-Nandirbhita, P.S-Raninagar, G.P-Katlamari-1 1 1 Raninagar-II

58 Islampur Natunpara SSK Vill-Islampur, P.S-Islampur 12 1 Raninagar-I

59 Benipur High School Vill-Banipur, P.S-Ranitala, G.P-Akharigonj 1 5

Bhagawangola-II

60 Najirpur SSK

Vill-Najirpur, P.O-Nashipur Balagachhi, P.S-Ranitala 12 1

Bhagawangola-II

61 73 No. Nasipur Purbo Primary School

Vill-Nashipur Purba, P.O-Nashipur Balagachhi, P.S-Ranitala 1 1

Bhagawangola II

62 Pirtala SSK G.P-Jasaitala 10 No. 12 1 Lalgola 63 Sarangapur High Madrasah Vill+P.O-Sarangapur 97 5 Domkal

64 5 No. Tulsipur Primary School

Vill-Tulshipur, P.O-Paikmari 1 1 Domkal

65 Simola Jr. High School Vill-Simola, P.O-Barala, P.S-Raghunathganj 1 4

Raghunathganj-I

66 Ramnagar SSK Vill-Ramnagar, P.O-Bilbora Kobra, 12 1 Lalgola

67 Etore Santhal Shiksha Niketan

Vill+P.O-Itor, P.S-Nabagram 1 5 Nabagram

68 Dighal Kandi SSK

Vill-DighalKandi, P.O-Hudaherampur, PIN-742304 12 1 Raninagar-I

69 Mehedipara Haji Jafar Madrasah Siksha Kendra

Vill-Mehedipara, P.O.-Rasulpur, P.S-Domkal 13 4 Domkal

70 16 No. Sahadiar Prathamik Vidyalaya

G.P.-Garaimari, P.S-Domkal 1 1 Domkal

71 Jangipur Munriah Jr. High Madrasah (Unit-II)

Jangipur MNC, P.O.+P.S.-Jangipur 97 4

Jangipur Municipality

72 Natun Chaksapur Prathamik Vidyalaya Vill+P.S-Chaksapur, 1 1 Samsherganj

73 Bhatshala Kalonipara SSK Vill-Bhatshala, P.O-Rana Basantapur 12 1 Domkal

74 Sarada Ramkrishna Prathamik Vidyalaya

Vill-Uddhberpara, P.O+P.S-Sagarpara, 1 1 Jalangi

75 38 no. Sitanagar Primary School

Vill-Sitanagar, P.O-Harekrishnapur,Jalangi 1 1 Jalangi

143  

Sl. No. Name of the school Address

Manage-ment

Cate- gory

Block/ Municipality

76 3no.Hogladair Biswaspara Dr. Rameswar Primary School

Vill- Biswaspara, P.S-Jalangi, 1 1 Jalangi

77 Ghoramara SSK Vill-Ghoramara, P.O-Kajipara, 12 1 Jalangi

78 Kaliganj Haldarpara SSK Vill+P.O-Kaliganj, P.S-Jalangi 12 1 Jalangi

79 32No. Kaliganj Primary School

Vill+P.O-Kaliganj, Jalangi 1 1 Jalangi

80 Uttar Mahammadpur N.C.L.P School

Vill-UttarMahammadpur, P.O-Lohorpur 14 1 Samsherganj

81 Natun Shikdarpur C.G.S Prathmik Vidyalaya

Vill-Natunshikdarpur, P.O-Chaksapur 1 1 Samsherganj

82 36 No. Domadi Primary School

Vill+P.O-Khayramary,P.S-Jalangi 1 1 Jalangi

83 53 No. Baromasiya Pashchimpara Primary School

Vill-Baromasiya, P.O-Harekrishnapur, 1 1 Jalangi

84 Charbali Kanapara Prathamik Vidyalaya

Vill-Kanapara,P.O-Asariyadaha, G.P.-Arainagar 1 1 Lalgola

85 Popara Haji Hasan Ali M.S.K.

Vill-Popara, P.O+P.S-Sagardighi 12 4 Sagardighi

86 Uttar Mamammad Jr. High School

Vill-Uttar Mahammadpur, P.O-Lohorpur, P.S-Samsherganj 1 4 Samsherganj

87 Arjunpur High School(H.S) Vill+P.O-Arjunpur, P.S.-Farakka 1 5 Farakka

88 Sazzat Ali Smriti Prathamik Vidyalaya

Vill-Paharghati, P.O-Dhuliyan 1 1

Dhuliayan Municipality

89 Nurpur Diar Uttarpara Prathamik Vidyalaya Vill+P.O-Nurpur,P.S-Suti 1 1 Suti-I

90 Baruya Prathamik Vidyalay Vill-Baruya, 1 1 Beldanga-I

91 14 no. Giriya Kismat Prathamik Vidyalaya

Vill-Girya Kismat, P.O-Lalkhanadiar 1 1

Raghunathganj-II

92 27no.Natun Aurangabad Primary

Vill-Natun Mahendrapur, P.O-Daharpar 1 1 Suti-II

93 Dharampur Dehipara SSK Vill-Dharampur, P.O-Dangapara, 12 1

Murshidabad-Jiaganj

94 Gokulta Primary School Vill-Gokulta, P.O-Kherur,P.S. - Sagardighi 1 1 Sagardighi

95 46.Bhurkunda Primary School

Vill-Dharpadganj, P.S-Sagardighi. 1 1 Sagardighi

96 10No. Haldi Jr.Basic School Vill-Haldi, P.O-Boyar,P.S-Sagardighi 1 1 Sagardighi

97 Palash Pukur F.P. School Vill-Palash Pukur, P.O-Kriteswari 1 1

Murshidabad-Jiaganj

144  

Sl. No. Name of the school Address

Manage-ment

Cate- gory

Block/ Municipality

98 Kashibati SSK Vill-Kashibati, P.O.-Dohapara, 12 1

Murshidabad-Jiaganj

99 Sarulia Prathamik Vidyalaya Vill-Sarulia 1 1 Beldanga-I

100 Nait Baidara Sishu Sramik Vidyalaya

Vill-Nait, P.O.-Bajla, P.S.- Raghunathganj 14 1

Raghunathganj - I

Malda

Sl. No. Name of the school Address

Manage-ment

Cate- gory

Block/ Municipality

1 Malda Bibhuti Bhusan High School

P.O-Malda, Word no.-23, Englishbazar Municipality 1 5

English Bazar Municipality

2 Piasbari Mgd. Primary School

Vill-Piyasbari, P.O-Gour, G.P.- Mahadipur 1 1 English Bazar

3 Alipur Madrasa Siksha Kendra

Vill-52bigha, P.O-Alipur, P.S-Kaliachak 13 4 Kaliachak-I

4 Protappur Meher Biswastola Primary School

Vill-Protappur Meher Biswastala, P.O-Mothabari 1 1 Kaliachak-II

5 G.B.S Jr High Madrasa (unit II)

Vill-Baburbona,P.O-Gopalganj, P.S-Kaliachak 97 4 Kaliachak-III

6 Char Sujapur High School

Vill+P.O-Charsujapur, G.P.-Krishnapur 1 5 Kaliachak-III

7 Gayeswari Pyari Bhuban Vidyaniketan

Vill-Balutula,P.O-Ramnagar, P.S.-Kaliachak 1 5 Kaliachak-III

8 Narayanpur Junior High School

Vill+P.O-Narayanpur, G.P.-Mangalbari 1 4 Old Malda

9 Madnahar Junior High School P.O-Ichhahar, G.P.-Karkachh 1 4 Gazole

10 Amarpur Junior High School

Vill-Amarpur, P.O-Iho, G.P.-Habibpur 1 4 Habibpur

11 Ratua High Madrasa (H.S) Vill+P.O-Ratua, p.S.-Ratua 97 5 Ratua-I

12 Polashbona Junior High School

Vill-Palashbana, P.O.-Kumarganj, G.P.-Sripur 1 4 Ratua-II

13 Sakarma Junior High School

Vill-Sakarma,P.O-Sahapur,Pin-732142 1 4 Old Malda

14 Old Malda K.C High School

P.O+P.S-Old Malda Pin-732128 1 5

Old Malda Municipality

15 Kaligram High School Vill+P.O-Kaligram 1 5 Chanchal-I

16 Makhna Kuilpara K.S High School

Vill-Makhna, P.O-Rajshimul, P.S.-Harishchandrapur, 1 5

Harishchandrapur-I

17 Adarsapally Primary School Vill-Krishnapalli,P.O-Gazole 1 1 Gazole

145  

Sl. No. Name of the school Address

Manage-ment

Cate- gory

Block/ Municipality

18 Muktakeshi Bholanath High School

P.O-J Kakamari, J.Kakmari, G.P.-Rathbari 1 5 Kaliachak-II

19 Horinkole Primary School

Vill-Harinkole P.O-Bahirkap,P.S.-Ratua 1 1 Ratua-I

20 Palash Bari Primary School

Vill-Palashbari, P.O-Maheshpur, P.S.-Bamongola 1 1 Bamongola

21 Mayanafalla Junior Basic School

Vill-Maynafalla, P.O-Kupadaha,P.S.-Bamongola 1 1 Bamongola

22 Sihipur Mgd. Primary School

Vill-Sihipur, P.O-Hatinda, P.S.-Chanchal 1 1 Chanchal-I

23 Imampur Mgd.Primary School Vill-Imampur, P.O-Galimpur 1 1 Chanchal-I

24 Baghmara Primary School

Vill-Baghmara, P.O-Jabra, P.S.-Harishchandrapur 1 1

Harishchandrapur-I

25 Amalitola S.S.K

Vill-Bahadurpur,P.O-Purbabahadurpur,P.S.-Kakiachak 12 1 Kaliachak-I

26 Pirojpur Idgahotola Primary School

Vill-Majimpur,P.O-Haruchak, P.S-Kaliachak 1 1 Kaliachak-I

27 Kadamtali C.S. Primary School

Vill-Kadamtuli, P.O-Alal, P.S.-Gazole 1 1 Gazole

28 New Sabdalpur Primary School

Vill+P.O-Sabdalpur,P.S.-Baishnabnagar 1 1 Kaliachak-III

29 Old Malda Municipality Primary School

Vill. Puratan Malda Sekhpara, P.O. Old Malda, P.S. Old Malda 3 1

Old Malda Municipality

30 Para Sumanda Primary School

Vill-Parasumunda, P.O-Mangalbari 1 1

Old Malda Municipality

31 Vidyasagar M.S.KVill-Sankrol,P.O-Dhumdighi,P.S.-Malda 12 4 Old Malda

32 Dharara Madanpur Primary School

Vill-Dharara, P.O-Fatekhani, P.S.-Kaliachak 1 1 Kaliachak-I

33 Sultanganj Bathan SSK

Vill-Bathan, P.O-Sultanganj,P.S.-Kaliachak 12 1 Kaliachak-I

34 Ismailpur PrimarySchool Vill+P.O-Ismailpur, 1 1 Chanchal-I

35 Niyar Gopalpur Primary School

Vill-Niyar,P.O-Sherpurmakdampur,P.S.-Harishchandrapur 1 1

Harishchandrapur-I

36 Sherpur Fakatala SSK Vill-Sherpur Fakatola, P.O-Makdampur, P.S.-Chanchal 12 1 Chanchal-II

37 Raghabbati Primary School

Vill-Raghabbati, P.O-Iho, P.S.-Habibpur 1 1 Habibpur

38 Ranahat Primary School

Vill-Ranahat,P.O-Iho, P.S.-Habibpur 1 1 Habibpur

39 Sundarban SSK Vill-Sundarban,P.O-Nakail, P.S.-Habibpur 12 1 Habibpur

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Manage-ment

Cate- gory

Block/ Municipality

40 Baharal Sahapur Primary School

Vill-Sahapur, P.O-Baharal, P.S.-Ratua 1 1 Ratua-I

41 Gouripur Primary School

Vill-Gouripur,P.O-Aridanga, P.S.-Ratua 1 1 Ratua-II

42 Uttar Maharajpur Primary School

Vill-Maharajpur, P.O-Araidanga 1 1 Ratua-II

43 Paschim Rukundipur Dhulipara SSK Vill-Rubundipur,P.O-Ratua 12 1 Ratua-I

44 Kanchitola Primary School Vill-16Mail, P.O-Gurutola 1 1 Kaliachak-III

45 Bhagjan Managed Primary NCLP

Vill-Gopalpur, P.O-Sahabajpur,P.S.-Baishnabnagar 14 1 Kaliachak-III

46 No.3 Coloni and Hajipara SSK

Vill-Hajipara,P.O-Paodeonapur 12 1 Kaliachak-III

47 Latashi Primary School

Vill-Kalapathar, P.O-Dahua, P.S.-Harishchandrapur 1 1

Harishchandrapur-II

48 Kariali Bazar SSKVill+P.O-Kariali,P.S.-Harishchandrapur 12 1

Harishchandrapur-II

49 Sadipur Primary School

Vill-Sadipur, P.O-Je Bagmari, P.S.-Kaliachak 1 1 Kaliachak-II

50 Birampur Primary School

Vill+P.O-Birampur, P.S.-Kaliachak 1 1 Kaliachak-II

51 Mahisbathani MGD Primary School

Vill-Mahishbathan,P.O-Barabona, 1 1 Old Malda

52 Pichhli Primary School Vill-Pichhli,P.O-Koklamari, P.S.-Englishbazar 1 1 English Bazar

53 R.N Dutta Primary School

Kutubpur,P.O-Malda Head Post Office 1 1

English Bazar Municipality

54 N.M.S H/A Primary School

Vill+P.O-Sujapur,P.S.-Kaliachak 1 1 Kaliachak-I

55 Baliadanga Namopara SSK

Vill+P.O-Baliyadanga,P.S.-Kaliachak 12 1 Kaliachak-I

56 Palashdanga Primary School

Vill-Palashdanga,P.O-Manikara, P.S.-Habibpur 1 1 Habibpur

57 Thalipukur Primary School

Vill-Thalipukur,P.O-Deotala, P.S.-Gazole 1 1 Gazole

58 Monohorpur Primary School

Vill-Monoharpur, P.O-Bulbulchandi,Habibpur 1 1 Habibpur

59 Balubharat Primary School

Vill-Balubharat, P.O-Bishampur, Harishchandrapur 1 1

Harishchandrapur-I

60 Satya Narayan Primary School

Vill-Jorakalisthan,P.O-Baliyanababganj 1 1

Old Malda Municipality

61 Palashbari SSK Vill- Palash bari, P.O-Malia, G.P-Kajigram 12 1 English Bazar

62 Jasarot tola Primary School

P.O-Rahimpur,G.P-Dharampur,P.S.-Manikchak 1 1 Manikchak

147  

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Manage-ment

Cate- gory

Block/ Municipality

63 Purba Parahar SSKVill- Paharpara, P.O-Malipara,G.P- Raniganj-1 12 1 Gazole

64 Mahendra laxmi Choudhurypara Primary School Vill+P.O+G.P- Mothabari, 1 1 Kaliachak-II

65 Kachalitola SSK Vill- Bangitola,P.O+G.P.-Bangitola 12 1 Kaliachak-II

66 Chatiantola Managed Primary School

Vill- Sukullapur Ghoshpara, P.O-Bangitala 1 1 Kaliachak-II

67 Fatepur Primary School

Vill- Fatapur,P.O-Niyamatpur,P.S.-Englishbazar 1 1 English Bazar

68 Raghunathpur Primary School

Vill- Raghunathpur, P.O-Moyna, 1 1 Gazole

69 Deotala Managed Primary School Vill+P.O- Deotala 1 1 Gazole

70 Atgama Kachamitha SSK

Vill- Kachamitha,P.O-Ichahar 12 1 Gazole

71 Nirmal Dihi SSKVill- Nirmaldihi, P.O-Goraksha 12 1 Ratua-I

72 Mahespur MSK Vill- Mahespur, P.O-Purbaranipur 12 4 Gazole

73 Lokrigola Matiari Primary School

Vill- Matiyari, p.o-Ghorkshapur, P.S.-Ratua 1 1 Ratua-I

74 Rangamatia New GSF Primary School

Vill- Rangamatiya, P.O-Khutadaha 1 1 Bamongola

75 Kumbhira Primary School Vill- Nurnagar, P.O- Sakalpur 1 1 Kaliachak-III

76 Samsi H/A Primary School Vill+P.O-Samsi,P.S.-Ratua 1 1 Ratua-I

77 Durgapur Paschimpara SSK

Vill-Durgapur Pashchimpara, P.O-Kharba 12 1 Chanchal-I

78 Nadpara SSK Vill-Nadpara,P.O-Chandrapara 12 1 Chanchal-II

79 Bhajanna Primary School Vill-Bhajnna, P.O-Mihhat 1 1

Harishchandrapur-II

80 Nasarpur Primary School Vill-Nasarpur, P.O-Ramsinha 1 1

Harishchandrapur-I

81 Dhangara Jr. Basic School Vill+ P.O-Dhangara 1 1 Chanchal-II

82 Khasimari Primary School

Vill-Khasimari, P.O-Kanchamtar, P.S-English Bazar 1 1 English Bazar

83 Laxmipur Jr. Basic Primary School

Vill-Laxmipur, P.O-Koklamari, P.S-English Bazar 1 1 English Bazar

84 Fichadanga SSK Vill-Fichadanga, P.O-Nalagola, P.S-Bamongola, 12 1 Bamongola

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Manage-ment

Cate- gory

Block/ Municipality

85 Ashok Nagar Colony Primary School

Vill-Ashoknagar, P.O- Uttar Chandipur, Maldah 1 1 Manikchak

86 Dangi MSK Vill-Dangi, P.O- Boroi 12 4 Harishchandrapur-I

87 Jhagrapathar Jr. High School

Vill-Jhagrapathar, P.O-Katlamari, Maldah 1 4 Ratua-I

88 Madantola Adarsha SSK

Vill- Jatpatta, P.O- Dallutola, Malda 12 1 Manikchak

89 Dhanarajgram Primary School Vill- Dhanraj, P.O-Lalbathani 1 1 Manikchak

90 Madhya Enayetpur SSK

Vill+P.O- Enayatpur, P.S-Manikchak, Maldah 12 1 Manikchak

91 Gungoun Prathamik Vidyalaya

Vill-Gungoan, P.O-Dhumdighi 1 1 Old Malda

92 Piyarpur Mgd. Prathamik Vidyalaya

Vill-Bangitola Kaloni, P.O-Bangitola 1 1 Kaliachak-II

93 Mohanlal Godrail Prathamik School Ward no.-3, EB.MNC 1 1

English Bazar Municipality

94 Chandipur Prathamik Vidyalaya

Vill-Chandipur, P.O-Naikanda,P.S.-Chanchal 1 1 Chanchal-I

95 Mahanandapur Prathamik Vidyalaya

Vill-Mahanandapur, P.O-Malikan, P.S.-Chanchal 1 1 Chanchal-II

96 Dudhmani SSK Vill-Dudhmani, P.O-Malatipur 12 1 Chanchal-II

97 Bilashihat SSK Vill-Pema,P.O-Bishanpur, P.S.-Harishchandrapur 12 1

Harishchandrapur-I

98 Kashipur Prathamik Vidyalay

Vill-Kashipur, P.O-Pipla, G.P.-Harishchandrapur 1 1

Harishchandrapur-I

99 Bairat Managed Primary School

Vill-Bairat, P.O+G.P.-Bhingole 1 1

Harishchandrapur-I

100 Gharitola Prathamik Vidyalaya

Vill-Umeshtola, P.O-Nagarar Jaygir 1 1 Manikchak

Jalpaiguri

Sl. No. Name of the school Address

Manage-ment

Cate- gory

Block/ Municipality

1 Singimari Utter Primary School

Vill-Singimari Uttarpara, P.O-Barubari 1 1 Jalpaiguri Sadar

2 Pateswari Primary School Vill-Jatinagar 1 1 Rajganj

3 Berubari Tapasili Free High School

Viil-Gopirbandar, P,O-Srirampara 1 5 Jalpaiguri Sadar

4 Sardar Para Harimandir B.F.P.School

Vill- sardarpara Harimondir, P.O-Bansganj 1 1 Jalpaiguri Sadar

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Manage-ment

Cate- gory

Block/ Municipality

5 Paschim Kumarpara MSK Vill-Paschim Kumarpara, P.O-Mohitnagar 12 4 Jalpaiguri Sadar

6 Khalpara Pragati Primary School

Vill-Khalpara (Sebagram),P.O-Debnagar, P.S-Kotoali 1 1 Jalpaiguri Sadar

7 Mohitnagar R.R.Primary School

Vill-Mohitnagar, P.O-Mohitnagar 1 1 Jalpaiguri Sadar

8 Shikarpur T.G.Primary School

Vill-Sikarpur Tea Garden, P.O-Sikarpur 1 1 Rajganj

9 Panda Para Kalibari By-pass SSK

Vill-Pandapara, P.O-Pandapara Kalibari, P.S-Kotoali 12 1 Jalpaiguri Sadar

10 Sukhani B.F.P School Vill-Sukhani, P.O-Rajganj 1 1 Rajganj

11 Harijanbosti SSKJayanti Para, Word No-12, Jalpaiguri Municipality 3 1

Jalpaiguri Municipality

12 Fakirdip S.P.School Vill-Fakirdip, D.O-Prassana Nagar 1 1 Rajganj

13 Purbanchal High School Rabindranagar, Word No-2, Jalpaiguri 1 5

Jalpaiguri Municipality

14 Chura Bhandar J.B.School Vill+P.O.-Jabramari, 1 1 Maynaguri

15 Changmari Primary School

Vill-Chanmari, P.O-Kajaldighi 1 1 Maynaguri

16 Ramshai Khudi Primary School

Vill-Ramsai Battala, P.O-Ramsai 1 1 Maynaguri

17 Haraballav Paul SSK Vill-Balibari,P.O-Balibari 12 1 Maynaguri

18 Bangla Jhar SSK Vill- Banlajhar, P.O-Kumarpara, P.S-Maynaguri 12 1 Maynaguri

19 Roy Para S.P. Primary School

Vill-Raypara, P.O-Boyalmari 1 1 Jalpaiguri Sadar

20 Danga Para SSK Vill-Barua Para, P.O-Jahuritalsa, P.S-Kotoali 12 1 Jalpaiguri Sadar

21 Gourchandi JR. High School

Vill-Gourchandi, P.O-Manikganj 1 4 Jalpaiguri Sadar

22 Chuapara T.G Hindi JR. High School

Vill-Chuapara T.G, P.O-Kalchini 1 4 Kalchini

23 Vedvyas Nepali JR. High School TrIbenitola, Jaygoan 1 4 Kalchini

24 Basuardanga MSKPaschim Daukimari, Gariyatari 12 4 Dhupguri

25 Samuktala JR. Girls High School

Vill-Shamuktala, P.O-Santhalpur, 1 4 Alipurduar-II

26 Ankur SSK Paschimdangapara, P.O-Gariyardangi 12 1 Dhupguri

27 Phoskadang SAENA Adibasi High School

Vill-Phoskadanga, P.O-Ranjukumari 1 5 Alipurduar-I

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Sl. No. Name of the school Address

Manage-ment

Cate- gory

Block/ Municipality

28 Khayerbari High Madrasah

Islamabad, P.O-Rangali(Bajna) 97 5 Madarihat

29 Mal R.R.Primary School Ward No.-9, Mal 1 1 Mal Municipality

30 Kanta Dighi Kumarpara S/C Primary School

Dakshin Kantadighi Kumarpara, P.O-Neora 1 1 Mal

31 Vedlu Danga SSK Gachimari, P.O-Khathambari 12 1 Mal

32 Kodalkati S.P. Primary School kodalkati, P.O-Rajadanga 1 1 Mal

33 Bapuji Adarsha Vidyalaya Upperkalabari, P.O-Kalabari Bagan 1 1 Nagrakata

34 Patrick MSK Meenglas, P.O-Sailihat 12 4 Mal

35 Tasati Baraline SSK Tasati Tea Garden, P.O-Birpara 12 1 Falakata

36 Kadambini SSK Kadambini Tea Garden, P.O-Falakata 12 1 Falakata

37 Hai Hai Pathar T.G SSK Vill-Rajabagan (pakaline), P.O-Mal 12 1 Mal

38 Chawaidangi S.P.Primary School Solmari, Saudavita 1 1 Rajganj

39 New Glencoe Tea Garden SSK

Dipa lane, New Glencoe Tea Garden, G.P.-Rangamati 12 1 Mal

40 Sitaguri SSK Vill-Sitaguri, P.O.-Mahanvita 12 1 Rajganj

41 Mainghora Dhamer Dangi SSK

Vill- Menghora, P.O-Menghora 12 1 Rajganj

42 Dabgram Nowapara B.F.P School

Dabgram Noapara, P.O-Shahudangi 1 1 Rajganj

43 Vidyapith Child Labour School

Vill-Purbodhantala, P.O-Satelight Township, Fulbari-2 14 1 Rajganj

44 Maringa Jhora B.F.P School

Vill-Maringajhora, P.O-Mantadari, 1 1 Rajganj

45 Damanpur High School P.O.-Dampur 1 5 Kalchini

46 Indong T.G Line ITDP Primary School Vill-Jangal line, P.O.-Metteli 1 1 Metali

47 Dakshin Chengmari Binapani Primary School

Vill-Dakshin Changmari, P.O-Changmari 1 1 Mal

48 Rajadanga Non Formal SSK

Vill-Rajadana, P.O.-Rajadanga 12 1 Mal

49 Nedam T.G Primary School Vill-Nidam, P.O.-Mal 1 1 Mal

50 Nagrakata ST.Marry's Boding School

Vill- Champaguri, P.O.-Nagrakata 1 1 Nagrakata

51 New Glencoe Tea Garden Primary School

New Glenco Tea Garden , P.O.-Mal 1 1 Mal

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Block/ Municipality

52 Chengmari Dangapara Primary School

Vill- Changmari Dangapara, P.O-Changmari 1 1 Mal

53 Balidhura Primary School Vill- Uttar Majgram, P.O-Rajadanga 1 1 Mal

54 Baniapara Chowrashta High School P.O-Nathua 1 5 Dhupguri

55 Baganbari Jr.High School Baganbari (jubosanga), P.O-Baganbari 1 4 Falakata

56 Gairkata Girls' High School P.O.-Gayarkata 1 5 Dhupguri

57 Kanuram Balika Vidyalaya P.O-Chaporer Par 1 5 Alipurduar-II

58 Lolaram Oraon SSK Khaochandpara, P.O-Khaochandpara 12 1 Falakata

59 Fulomoti SSK Vill+P.O-Khgenhat 12 1 Falakata 60 Notahara Primary School Vill+P.O.-Promodnagar 1 1 Falakata

61 Hazipara Chhamiria Madrasha Siksha Kendra

Dakshin Nun Khoya Danga, P.O-Laxmikantapara 13 4 Dhupguri

62 Purba Khairbari B.F.P Vill-Purbakhayerbari, P.O-Madarihat 1 1 Madarihat

63 Shyama Prasad R.R.Primary School

Nabinsen Coloni, P.O-Alipurduar 1 1 Alipurduar-I

64 Majherdabri T.G. SC Primary School

Majer Dabri T.G, P.O-Damanpur 1 1 Alipurduar-II

65 Chapatali no1 S.P Primary School 1 No. Chapatali, P.O-Birpara 1 1 Alipurduar-I

66 Hamiltangonj Bord Free Primary School Vill+P.O.-Hamiltanganj 1 1 Kalchini

67 Dhumchipara T.G Primary School Dhumchipara, P.O-Ramjora. 1 1 Madarihat

68 L W C Primary School 14/25 Rabindra Nagar Colani, P.O+P.S.-Birpara 1 1 Madarihat

69 Dhowlabasti SSK Dhowlabasti, P.O-Tuffuri 12 1 Alipurduar-II70 Chepani N.S.P School Vill+P.O.-Chepani 1 1 Alipurduar-II71 Netaji Vidyapith Vill+P.O-Khathapara 1 1 Dhupguri

72 Debkota ITDP Primary School

Vill-Birpara Upper line, P.O-Birpara 1 1

Madarihat-Birpara

73 Alipurduar High School P.O.-Alipurduar 1 5 Alipurduar Municipality

74 Birpara Bagan Hindi Primary School P.O.-Birpara 1 1

Madarihat-Birpara

75 Uttar Shishubari ITDP Primary School

Uttar Shishubari. P.O-Gopalbagan 1 1

Madarihat-Birpara

76 Railway Hindi S.P Primary School

Sibbari Chechakheta, P.O-Alipurduar Jn. 1 1 Alipurduar-I

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Cate- gory

Block/ Municipality

77 Netaji Primary School Vill+P.O.-Birpara, P.S.-Alipurduar 1 1 Alipurduar-I

78 Beech T.G Haldibari Primary School

Beech O.D Haldibari, P.O.-Hasimara 1 1 Kalchini

79 Kohinoor T.G Primary School Vill+P.O.-Kohinoor T.G 1 1 Alipurduar-II

80 Silbari Patlakhowa B.F.P School Mejbil, P.O-Jogendra Nagar 1 1 Alipurduar-I

81 Padmarpar N P School Vill+P.O.-Chaperapar 1 1 Alipurduar-II

82 Teli Para T.G Primary School

Vill-Telipara T.G, P.O-Binnaguri 1 1 Dhupguri

83 Madhya Daukimari SSK Madhya Dahukimari 12 1 Dhupguri

84 Dhupguri Mouza Primary School

Malpara Ward.15, Dhupguri Municipality 1 1 Dhupguri

85 Uttarpara G.S.F.P School Pramadnagar Ward No.-18, Alipurduar Municipality 1 1

Alipurduar Municipality

86 Khayerbari Camp SSK Chakoyakheti 12 1 Alipurduar-I

87 Jogendra Nagar New Primary School Vill+P.O.-Jogendranagar 1 1 Alipurduar-I

88 Patkapara Chabagan SSK Vill-Patkapara Chabagan, P.O-Alipurduar 12 1 Alipurduar-I

89 Netaji SSK Vill-Changmari, P.O.-Hamaguri 12 1 Kumargramduar

90 Tapsikhata Bastari SSK Vill-Tapsikhata Bastari, P.O-Ghargaria Hat 12 1 Alipurduar-I

91 Prodhanpara S/C Primary School

Vill-Purbo alta Gram, P.O.-Altagram Magurmari 1 1 Dhupguri

92 Karjipara B.F.P School Vill-Karjipara, P.O-Kathapara 1 1 Dhupguri

93 Nabanagar Tribal SSK Vill+P.O.-Nabanagar 12 1 Falakata

94 Karjeepara Primary School

Vill-Uttar Deogao, P.O.-Deogao 1 1 Falakata

95 Ramzan Ali Smriti SSK Madhya Deogao, P.O-Gobinhat 12 1 Falakata

96 Birpara State Plan Primary School

Vill+P.O.-Birpara, Alipurduar 1 1 Alipurduar-I

97 Shahid Kshudhiram SSK Vill-Dakshin Parokata, P.O-Brojerkuthi 12 1 Alipurduar-II

98 Chhota Daldali New Primary School

Vill-Chhota Daldali, P.O-Khoyardanga 1 1 Kumargramduar

99 Kumargram SSK Thakur Minj House

Kumargramduar, P.O.-Kumargram 12 1 Kumargramduar

100 Purba Nararthali SSK Nipen Das

Purba Nararthali, P.O-Khoyargram 12 1 Kumargramduar