One of the objectives of the scheme is to increase enrolment of students. Figure 1 shows the trend of enrolment in all schools in the district where MDM is provided.

• In the four years from 2017-18 to 2020-21, there was a 6.9% decline in enrolment in schools that provide MDM (government schools and government-aided schools).
• At the state level too, the number of students enrolled in government or government-aided schools fell by 8.5% over these four years.
• The decline is more at the primary level (down 8%) than at the upper-primary level (down 5%).
• While the Covid-19 pandemic could be one reason for the decline in 2020-21, enrolment had been declining in the pre-Covid period too, at both the district and state levels.
• Further research is required to ascertain the reasons for the decline in enrolment, especially as it goes against the scheme’s objectives.

Figure 1: Total Enrolment in Schools Providing MDM

Each year, the Project Approval Board estimates and approves the number of students who are likely to avail MDM in the institutions that serve midday meals. Generally, some students are unlikely to avail of the MDM scheme for various reasons. Figure 2 shows the relationship between total enrolment at the institutions approved for MDM, the number of students approved for MDM, and the actual number of students who availed of the meals.

• In these four years, total enrolment and total students approved for MDM declined in the district by 7% and 15%, respectively. One reason was the decline in the number of institutions approved for MDM from 1,431 in 2017-18 to 1,209 in 2020-21.
• The number of students approved for MDM is greater than the enrolment for 2017-18 and 2019-20. One possible explanation for this could be that enrolment was taken on a particular date mid-year (30^th September mostly), which might differ from the enrolment at the beginning of the year. But this explanation needs further exploration for confirmation.
• Although enrolment and approvals have declined, the number of students availing MDM has increased during this period.
• In 2020-21, the total number of students who availed of MDM was higher than the total enrolment and the number of students approved. One possible reason for this could be that during the pandemic, instead of meals at school, students were provided foodgrains and monetary support for cooking costs through direct benefit transfers, covering all students.

Figure 2: Number of Students: Enrolled vs Approved vs Availed

Under the scheme, there are several components for which funds are made available and spent. These are:

• Foodgrain cost, which is paid to the Food Corporation of India (FCI)
• Cooking cost, which includes expenditure on all items used to prepare meals, except foodgrains
• Honorarium to cooks-cum-helpers (CCH)
• Transportation cost of foodgrains
• Expenses on management, monitoring and evaluation (MME)
• Construction of kitchens
• Procurement and replacement of kitchen equipment

Of these, the first four are regular expenses, while the last two are occasional and more need-based. Data on MME is available at the state level, not at the district level. For these reasons, only the first four components have been analysed in this factsheet. In all subsequent analyses, total funds available and total expenditure refers to the sum of these four components.

Figure 3 shows the trend of fund available and expenditure in the district of Gajapati.

• In these four years, fund availability has increased continuously, while expenditure has fluctuated.
• In 2019-20, there was a sharp 32% decline in expenditure.

Figure 3: Total Availability and Expenditure under MDM in Gajapati (Rs lakh)

• The main reason expenditure fell is the number of days on which meals were served dropped from 220 in 2018-19 to 149 in 2019-20 (Figure 4). The reason for this is not immediately clear. An official document says that ‘Due to heat wave, schools were closed for 15 days in April’, though the reduction is in the range of 60-70 days.
• The reduction in the number of days happened at the state level too.
• The number of days bounced back in 2020-21, even surpassed levels of earlier years. The main reason behind this increase is because this period coincided with the Covid-19 lockdown, when, instead of serving meals at schools, the government provided a food security allowance to students.
• The increase in the number of days and number of students resulted in a sharp increase in expenditure from the previous year.

Figure 4: Number of days on which MDM was served in schools

Utilisation is measured as the expenditure made out of the total funds available, which, in turn, is the sum of the opening balance and funds received during the financial year. Figure 5 shows the utilisation rates for the district and the state.

Figure 5: Rate of Utilisation at District and State level (%)

• The utilisation rate is similar in both the state and the district.
• The reason for the sharp fall in utilisation in 2019-20 in both the state and the district is the same: a reduction in the number of days on which meals were served.
• The increased utilisation in 2020-21 in both the state and the district was due to the fact that when schools were shut due to Covid-19, instead of the government providing meals at school, a food security allowance was given to students. This increased the number of students who received the benefit.

Figure 6 shows the trend of allocations to each component.

• Allocation to each component is based on a unit value: distance for transportation, defined amount for foodgrains, pre-defined wage rate for CCH, and defined unit value for cooking cost.
• In two components, foodgrains and honorarium to CCH, there’s very little change in the amounts.
• The transport allocation has grown 40% on average, possibly due to an increase in unit transportation cost.
• Cooking cost outlay saw a larger increase in 2020-21.

Figure 6: Funds available to different components (Rs lakh)

Figure 7 shows the share of each component in the combined expenditure between 2017-18 and 2021-22.

• During these four years, cooking cost had the largest share of the total allocation, of 72% .
• The share of transport and foodgrains has remained at a similar level across these four years.
• While the amount allocated to CCH has remained constant, its share has changed, which can be attributed to a change in allocation to cooking costs.

Figure 7: Share of different components in total expenditure (%)

Figure 8 gives the utilisation rates for all components.

• In this four-year period , payment to foodgrains had the highest utilisation rate (96%), while transport had the lowest (72%).
• There was a sharp dip in utilisation in 2019-20 for all four components, with variations. The most likely reason for the drop is the number of days on which meals were provided declining from 220 in 2018-19 to 149 in 2019-20.
• Utilisation across the four components was at relatively similar levels in 2017-18 and 2018-19, but diverged in the last two years.
• In 2020-21, the near 100% utilisation in foodgrains and cooking cost is because instead of meals at school, students were provided a food security allowance of similar value.
• The comparatively lower level of utilisation in the honorarium given to CCHs is due to the fall in number of CCHs engaged, from 2,351 in 2019-20 to 2,054 in 2020-21. This is most likely due to the school shutdown in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
• In earlier years, too, the number of CCHs engaged was much lower than the approved number for the district, which is 2,896.

Figure 8: Rate of Fund Utilisation (%)

Given the importance of MDM scheme in providing nutrition, and helping increase enrolment and hence education of students, data/information about the scheme should be readily available and accessible to the common masses. Figure 9 lists essential data points/information regarding MDM that will be useful to various stakeholders. The current level of information available has been evaluated for these indicators.

The data points /information regarding MDM have/has been taken from the Annual Work Plan and Budget Meeting Documents (AWB&PM) for the years from 2017-18 to 2020-21. These documents were accessed at https://pmposhan.education.gov.in/.

 Transparency and Accountability Parameters

Availability of Information and Comprehensiveness

 Information on funds available

• Yes

 Information on funds utilised

• Yes

 Information on number of students enrolled

• Yes

 Information on number of students availing of MDM

• Yes

 Information on number of meals served

• Yes

 Gender-wise disaggregation of beneficiary data

• No

 Social group-wise disaggregation of beneficiary data

• Yes

 Geographical granularity of the fiscal indicator

• District-wise

 Information on number of schools

• Yes

Accessibility

 Language in which information is available

• English

 Compatibility on devices

• Phone, tablet, laptop friendly

Timeliness

 How frequently are data updated?

• Annually. Data is available after a year.

Relevance

 How relevant would users find it

• The data available in the MDM website can be used by researchers, scholars and policy makers. While the information on the website is vast, further disaggregation of data based on gender can help understand the ways MDM affects education and the nutritional status of girl children.

Reliability

 Are the data reliable?

• CAG audit reports are not available on the MDM website, hence authenticating the data with MIS and ground verification is essential.

Accountability and Citizen’s Participation

 Social Audit schedules

• Social auditing is mandated for all districts.
• While the account for the number of schools covered, organisations/institutions conducting the audit and expenditure is available, the reports on the website are not up to date for all the states and years.

 Availability of information on Grievance Redressal Mechanism for beneficiaries

• Contact details to lodge complaints are listed on the website for every state.
• Details on the number of complaints, status of complaints and action taken are also available.
• States follow different mechanisms for grievance redressal.