Government-Funded School Meal Programs Struggle Amid Rising Food Inflation

For nearly two years, elevated food inflation in India has significantly impacted the nutritional quality of meals provided to impoverished children. Government-funded school meal programs are experiencing cutbacks due to rising prices of essential items such as vegetables, fruits, and pulses, resulting in reduced provisions for students, according to a report by Jatindra Dash, Saurabh Sharma and Ira Dugal in Reuters.

Schools compelled to economise on essential food ingredients

A report by Reuters, which included interviews with 21 school teachers across four states, a dozen families, and researchers, revealed that schools had been compelled to economise on essential ingredients due to stagnant meal budgets under the scheme, which have not increased for the past two years despite rising food prices. The Mid Day Meal Programme serves approximately 120 million children across one million government and government-aided schools up to class 8, according to data available on the scheme's website. Teachers and school administrators are responsible for managing the quality of the food provided.

"Budget for the mid-day meal scheme is not indexed to inflation regularly as it should be, compromising the quality of the meal," said Dipa Sinha, an independent development economist and researcher who works with the 'Right For Food' campaign, an informal non-government network of organisations and individuals, reported Reuters.

"While the government provides free grain for these meals, that does not compensate for a cut-back in other nutritious ingredients like vegetables, pulses, milk and eggs due to inadequate budgets," Sinha added.

Food inflation in India

According to a bulletin published by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in August, food inflation averaged 6.3% from 2020 to 2024, a stark contrast to the period 2016-2020 when it averaged just 2.9%. Price increases in India have been particularly pronounced in the vegetable category, which has experienced inflation exceeding 10% for 22 months over the past four years, as noted in the RBI study. Additionally, pulses and oils have faced double-digit inflation for 24 months, while egg prices have risen for 15 months during this same period.

Despite these significant price surges, the minimum budget allocated for each primary school student remains at 5.45 rupees, and for upper primary students, it is 8.17 rupees, both of which have not been adjusted since October 2022.