Mid-day meal scheme apprehensions and interventions – A case study of district Kangra Himachal Pradesh

In developing countries, food insecurity and poor nutrition remain a problem and can have profound effects on children's health and their development. Mid-day Meal has made positive intervention in universalisation of Primary Education by increasing enrollment, attendance of the children. The Midday Meal Scheme in India is the largest school meal programme in the world, covering an estimated139 million children. The Midday Meal Scheme has bold objectives: it aims to enhance enrolment, retention and attendance among primary school children while simultaneously improving their nutritional levels and have shown significant evidence of positive, protective effects, particularly for children growing up in communities living in remote areas and affected by drought. The present paper is an attempt to find out the impacts of midday meal scheme in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh and various apprehensions in implementing the scheme. And it has been found that in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh much portion of the allocated budget remained unutilized.