Social accountability in service delivery of mid-day meal scheme in Maharshtra: Role of public private partnership model

This study highlighted that even though Maharashtra is a highly industrialized State, the growth of population, lack of political will, prevalent low social accountability among community to the poor implementation of the MDM scheme. Drawing on the private sector and NGOs for the school feeding programme overcomes many of the difficulties of on-site preparation of meals, and may be one of the many inexpensive ways to feed children in schools. The private sector in this case could be a local caterer (in towns) or an NGO. The centralized kitchen setup where cooking can be undertaken in a centralized kitchen, and cooked hot meal can be distributed under hygienic conditions. This arrangement would call for efficient management not only with respect to cooking but also transportation and distribution. This model is suggested to have more efficient systems for the delivery of meals to school children.