Figure 1 shows the relationship between enrolment in schools that provide MDM, the number of students approved for MDM by the project approval board, and the number of students who actually availed of the MDM scheme.

• The relationship between the three parameters, as well as individual trends of each of the three parameters, varies over time.
• Enrolments dropped by 10.3% over these four years. The decline is more at the primary level (12%) compared to the upper primary level (7%).
• The number of students approved increased by 14.6%, while the number of students availing the meal declined by 5.9%.
• Over these four years combined, 67% of enrolment was approved for meals, while 91% of those with approval availed of the meal.

Figure 1: MDM coverage in the district

• In terms of the share of approved students availing of the meal, both the district and the state show the same trend over these four years.
• In terms of scale, there is inconsistency. Out of these four years, the scale is almost the same for the district and state for two years. In one year, the share of the state is higher, while in another, the share is higher for the district.

Figure 2: Number of students availing meals as a percentage of approvals

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.

• After dipping in 2018-19, funds available increased over the next two years.
• Expenditure has declined continuously, by 27% over four years.
• Unspent balance increased in the last two years.

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

Figure 4 gives the breakup of expenditure for the four components.

• In these four years combined, cooking cost had the highest share of 71.2%, while transport had the lowest share of 2%.
• There are year-wise variations in share of each component.
• The high share of cooking cost in 2018-19 is due to lower expenditure under CCH. Expenditure under CCH in 2018-19 was Rs 1.06 crore, against Rs 2.93 crore in the remaining three years.
• In 2020-21, spending on foodgrains was higher, while that on CCH and cooking costs was lower.

Figure 4: Component-wise expenditure (%)

The district receives foodgrains (rice) from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) based on a per unit allocation multiplied by the number of students approved for the meal. Figure 5 shows the funds available for foodgrains and payments made to FCI.

• Availability of funds has been in line with funding requirement over these four years.
• Barring 2019-20, utilisation of funding has been 100%.
• The increase in funds available in 2017-18 was to pay pending bills from earlier years.

Figure 5: Funding Availability and Payments to FCI (Rs lakh)

• At the state level, the utilisation rate varied in the first two years of this period. In the case of the district, it remained stable.
• The low utilisation rate in 2017-18 for the state was accompanied by lower payment to FCI. The bill raised by FCI was for Rs 21.8 crore, while payment was Rs 10 crore. The arrears were paid the following year, resulting in the utilisation rate crossing 100%.
• In the state Annual Work Plan and budget documents, the issue of arrears along with the year’s release by the government has been raised. Arrears lead to FCI refusing to release foodgrains. The state had also suggested that FCI authorities at the national level should be instructed not to stop the release of foodgrains on account of a delay in payment.

Figure 6: Fund Utilisation Rate for the Release of Foodgrains (%)

Under the scheme, cooks-cum-helpers (CCHs) are provided a monthly honorarium of Rs 1,000. Figure 7 and Figure 8 show the funds available and expenditure on CCH, as well as a comparison of the utilisation rate of funding for CCH at the district and state levels.

• Funds available and expenditure varied across the four years.
• In 2018-19, the unspent balance exceeded the expenditure.

Figure 7: Availability of Funds and Expenditure on Honorarium to CCHs (Rs Lakh)

• The district’s performance saw a wide variance against the state performance. The huge gap between the district’s and state’s utilisation in 2018-19 was due to the district’s low expenditure—it was the lowest among all districts in Jharkhand.
• The state suffered a shortage of funds available for CCH in 2018-19 and 2019-20.

Figure 8: Utilisation of funds for CCH (%)

as well as a comparison of the utilisation rate between the district and state.

• There was an unspent balance in Latehar district over all these four years.
• In the last three years of the period studied, the extent of funds unspent increased.

Figure 9: Availability of Funds and Expenditure on Cooking (Rs lakh)

• Utilisation rate of funds at the district is very similar to that of the state.
• In the district and the state, the utilisation rate dropped in the last three years.

Figure 10: Utilisation of Funds for Cooking (%)

The State Food Corporation has the responsibility to ensure doorstep delivery of foodgrains from the FCI to the block levels. Expenditure under transportation assistance is thus made on account of payment to the State Food Corporation for this delivery. Payment is made on the basis of state norms. Figure 11 and Figure 12 show the funds available and expenditure on transportation, as well as a comparison of the utilisation rate at the district and state levels.

• At the district level, funds available and expenditure increased over the period studied.
• There were unspent funds with the district in 2017-18 and 2019-20.

Figure 11: Availability of Funds and Expenditure on Transportation (Rs lakh)

• Utilisation rate at the district level was higher than at the state level in the final three years.
• In 2018-19 and 2019-20, the state had a lower utilisation rate of 68%.

Figure 12: Utilisation of Funds for Transportation (%)

Figure 13 shows the share of the district in the state in terms of number of schools serving MDM and number of students.

• Over these four years, the district’s share was around 2.9%, while the share of students saw a slight decrease.
• The decline was much higher in 2020-21, possibly indicating the impact of Covid-19. In 2020-21, the number of students availing the meal increased in absolute terms, but a decline in Latehar’s share shows that the number of students saw a bigger increase in other districts.

Figure 13: Latehar’s Share in the Number of Institutions Serving MDM and Students Availing MDM (%)

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 14 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 utilized

• Yes

 Information on number of students enrolled

• Yes

 Information on number of students availing MDM

• Yes

 Information on number of meals served

• Yes

 Gender-wise disaggregation of beneficiary data

• No

 Caste-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?

• Real-Time

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.