The Mid-day Meal Programme of 1970s
The 12th anniversary special edition of Outlook news magazine features the story "Round, Square and Oval" about the mid-day meal programme for school children in Hyderabad. Madhavi Tata brings out the success of the programme in a manner that we all realize "what one wholesome meal a day can do to a child's life". The story reminds me of the mid-day meal programme of my primary-school days in Kerala. Palluvelil bhagom L.P.S was a government school, where most children in the locality did their primary schooling. They comprised of children from poor and middle class families in the village. The school had classes up to 5th standard and had reasonably good buildings and premises. There was a public park nearby where a rickety seesaw and a slider were available for the kids to play. The main attraction of the park was a valve radio, which was housed in a small room. The room was so small that it hardly accommodated the valve radio, its stand and a switchboard. The ...