July 1, 1982 was a turning point in the political history of modern Tamil Nadu, when M G Ramachandran, the then chief minister of Tamil Nadu, ate a meal with primary school children in Pappakurichi village in Trichy district, marking the beginning of the chief minister’s nutritious noon meal scheme.
It later became the cornerstone of welfare policies in Tamil Nadu. For politicians it was a shrewd populist move by MGR to retain his vote bank; for nutritionists it ensured at least a third of the required nutrition for children; for educationists it was a strategy to increase enrolment in school; for some economists it was a waste of public money; and for teachers it was an added administrative burden. But for MGR it was a moment of satisfaction for having ensured the feeding of hungry children.
“This scheme is the outcome of my experience of extreme starvation at an age when I knew only to cry when I was hungry . But for the munificence of a woman next door who extended a bowl of rice gruel to us and saved us from the cruel hand of death, we would have departed this world long ago. Such merciful women folk, having great faith in me, elected me as chief minister of Tamil Nadu… To picture lakhs and lakhs of poor children who gather to take up nutritious meals in thousands of hamlets and villages all over TN and blessing us in their childish prattle, will be a glorious event,“ said MGR about the noon meal scheme.
Providing noon meal in schools was not new to Tamil Nadu as it had existed in various forms since the early 1900s. The sporadic events of providing noon meal in schools were outcomes of the philanthropic efforts of a few. But it was left to K Kamaraj to conceive it as a public policy so that government could provide it.Yet due to the lack of adequate finances and weak administrative machinery , the scheme was implemented only in rural primary schools and was dependent on contributions from local governments. In 1982 the allocation towards the noon meal scheme was less than 6 crore.
The emotion of MGR behind the initiation of the scheme was truly captured in terms of its mammoth size and his determination to implement it against all odds. The total outlay for this scheme in 1982 was 120 crore that was later revised to 140 crore in late 1982 and 220 crore in 1983. Increasing the outlay by 20 times in a year shows the importance it received in the state. The scheme initially benefited 5.6 million children in rural schools in the age group of 5 to 10 years and within two months it was extended to children in urban areas, increasing the number of beneficiaries to 6.5 million. In addition, the balwadis (child care centres) were roped in to provide meals for children in the age group of 2 to 5 years. Subsequently, the elderly, widows and destitutes were also covered by this programme. Nearly 56,000 noon meal kitchens were opened, of which 35,000 were in schools. The average cost of a meal for children was 45 paisa and for adults, 90 paisa
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