Mid-Day Meal Scheme – Much Food for Thought in New Education Policy
Hyderabad: The newly released policy document on education has called for a comprehensive overhaul of all systems related to the programme, while calling for a single nodal agency to deal with the lunch issue, one of the most pressing problems in state-run schools.
Besides setting up a new company for centralized procurement of all food supplies required for residential institutions and other supplies like stationery and cosmetics, the Telangana Education Commission, in its ‘Education Policy for Telangana, 2026, Inclusive Excellence Vision’, has called for a significant increase in the budget of meals served to students from Classes I to X, stating that the current rates do not reflect the actual costs of various foods. Additionally, TEC said the government should establish a centralized online payment system to ensure timely payments to workers involved in preparing meals.
Noting that “several unfortunate incidents” had occurred in the mid-day meal program in both day schools and boarding institutions over the past decade, the GEM identified the lack or absence of kitchen facilities, the potential for contamination of food, and also noted that meals became unattractive to students unless rice of the same quality was supplied.
More importantly, the report noted the lack of safe drinking water for drinking and cooking, negatively impacting the quality of food preparation and “in some cases leading to health problems among students.”
TEC has recommended increasing the annual budget of the mid-day meal scheme to about Rs 152 Million per annum, which it said is around Rs 151 Million for students up to class X, while including intermediate students, which is said to require another Rs 39 Million per year. TEC findings reveal that due to various reasons, including poor quality of food, around 3.37 lakh out of 16.86 lakh registered students did not eat the meals provided.
The policy document also listed a comprehensive guide to establish standard operating procedures for each step of providing lunch to students; It was added that complaint boxes should be established in every school where the program is implemented and that each complaint should be addressed to ensure that issues flagged are resolved.
Telangana Education Commission findings
Insufficient proportions for food ingredients
Lack of storage for ingredients, kitchen facilities
food pollution
Low quality rice is supplied
Prescribed menu not followed
Delayed payments to vendors and workers
Central kitchens are not effective
Lack of safe drinking water
Lack of feedback mechanisms
