One of the fundamental objectives of the MDM Scheme is to improve school enrolment and maintain a high attendance.

• The number of children enrolled in school increased between 2017-18 and 2019-20.
• However, enrolment dropped in 2020–21 as compared to 2019-20.
• During the pandemic, there was a case of reverse migration from urban to rural regions. This might be the primary cause for the drop in enrolment.

Figure 1: Enrolment in schools providing MDM

Figure 2 depicts the number of institutions in the district that were approved for providing mid-day meals, and how many actually did so.

• Between 2017-18 and 2020-21, the number of institutions approved for MDM  declined by 80, while the number of institutions providing MDM declined by 49.
• In 2017-18 and 2018-19, the number of institutions that did not provide MDM amounted to 21 and 71, respectively, even though they were approved for the same.
• In last two years, all institutions approved for providing meals have provided meals.

Figure 2: Number of institutions approved for MDM and providing MDM

Based on state proposals, the programme approval board (PAB) approves the number of students that will benefit under the MDM scheme every year. Figure 3 shows the enrolment in schools that provide MDM along with the number of students approved and number of students who availed of meals.

• The share of students approved for MDM out of total enrolment, and the share of students who availed of the meal out of approved students, show a fluctuating trend in these four financial years.
• In the last two years, the number of students availing MDM has exceeded the number of students approved by 55,907 and 1,23,292. Since the funds available, as well as released, are based on the plan, which is based on the approved number of students, a greater mismatch will have implications for proper implementation of the scheme.
• In 2020-21, the number of students availing the MDM exceeded even the enrolment. This needs further investigation.

Figure 3: Number of students Enrolled, Approved and Availing of MDM

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.

• Between 2017-18 and 2020-21, total funds available—mainly the funds allocated each year by the government, plus the surplus/unspent balance from the previous year, has increased by Rs 336 lakh.
• In the same period, total expenditure increased by Rs 1,053 lakh.
• In 2020-21, Pune district’s expenditure declined by  Rs 451 lakh compared to previous financial years.

Figure 4: Funds Available and Expenditure at the District Level (Rs lakh)

Foodgrains for cooking (rice in the case of Pune) come from the Food Corporation of India (FCI), which is reimbursed the cost of the foodgrains.

• Data for 2017-18 and 2018-19 was not available for the district.
• In 2019-20 and 2021-21, the district had surplus funding.
• The entire bill raised by the FCI was cleared in both 2019-20 and 2020-21.
• The rate of fund utilisation in the case of foodgrains is the same in the state and the district.

Figure 5: Availability of Funds and Payment to FCI (Rs lakh)

Cooking cost includes expenditure on items other than foodgrains, such as vegetables, oil, salt, fuel, etc. Figure 6 shows funding availability and expenditure on cooking.

• Expenditure on cooking costs increased between 2017-18 and 2020-21.
• There was surplus funding available for cooking in 2017-18 and 2019-20.
• In 2020-21, there was a shortage of Rs 740 lakh.

Figure 6: Funds Available and Utilised for Cooking (Rs lakh)

• Utilisation of funds for cooking at the district level compares favourably with the state across all four years.
• The state-level utilisation of cooking funds has declined continuously in these four years.

Figure 7: Utilisation of Cooking Cost Outlay (%)

Cooks-cum-helpers (CCHs) are paid an honorarium of Rs 1,000 per month. Figure 8 shows fund availability and expenditure on CCHs.

• Available funding and expenditure increased by 427 lakh between 2017-18 and 2020-21.
• Except in 2019-20, there were funds lying unspent. Unspent funding rose from Rs 73 lakh in 2017-18 to Rs 106 lakh in 2020-21.

Figure 8: Availability of Funds and Expenditure on Honoraria to Cooks cum Helpers (Rs lakh)

• There is fluctuation in fund utilisation at both the district and state levels.
• The district has a higher utilisation rate than the state.

Figure 9: Utilisation of Funds for Honoraria to Cooks cum Helpers (%)

Transport assistance is provided according to the cost per unit of foodgrain.

• Expenditure data for 2018-19 is not available at the district level.
• The calculation for the unspent balance of the transportation cost for 2017-18 for Maharashtra’s districts was incorrect in the AWPB.
• Both expenditure and available funding fell from 2017-18 to 2020-21.
• However, in all fiscal years, there was an unspent balance, indicating surplus funding.

Figure 10: Availability of Funds and Expenditure for Transportation Assistance (Rs lakh)

• There is fluctuation in utilisation of transportation costs at the state level, which declined sharply from 89 percent in 2017-18 to 31 percent in 2020-21.

Figure 11: Utilisation of Transportation Assistance (%)

• There is a gap between the share of the state’s budget allocated to the district and share of children from the district who availed of the MDM scheme.
• The district’s allocation decreased during the pandemic. It received only 6.8 percent of the total budget outlay; however, at the same time, it served 8.3 percent of students in the state.

Figure 12: Share of Students in State vs Share of Funds for Pune District (%)

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 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.