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Home , Direct Benefit Transfer, Midday Meal Scheme, Neelam Sonkar, Pratap Singh Bajwa, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Sumedhanand Saraswati

PARLIAMENT OF

DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

Rajya Sabha Secretariat, December, 2016/Agrahayana, 1938 (Saka)

Hindi version of this publication is also available

PARLIAMENT OF INDIA RAJYA SABHA

DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY THIRD REPORT

The Implementation of And Mid-Day-Meal Scheme

(Presented to the Rajya Sabha on 15th December, 2016) (Laid on the Table of on 15th December, 2016)

Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi December, 2016/ Agrahayana, 1938 (Saka) C O N T E N T S

PAGES

1. COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE …...... (i) 2. PREFACE…………………………………………………………………………. (ii) 3. LIST OF ACRONYMS ………...... …...... (iii)-(iv) 4. REPORT...... …...... 4. *OBSERVATIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE - AT A GLANCE ... 5. *MINUTES ...... 6. *ANNEXURES......

______*Appended on printing stage

COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE (Constituted w.e.f. 1st September, 2016)

1. Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya ¾ Chairman RAJYA SABHA 2. Prof. Jogen Chowdhury 3. Prof. M.V. Rajeev Gowda 4. Shri Anubhav Mohanty 5. Shri Pratap Singh Bajwa 6. Shri Vishambhar Prasad Nishad 7. Shri Basawaraj Patil 8. Shri Sharad Pawar 9. Shrimati Sasikala Pushpa 10. Dr. Vinay P. Sahasrabuddhe LOK SABHA 11. Shrimati 12. Shri Bijoy Chandra Barman 13. Shri Nihal Chand 14. Shrimati Bhawana Gawali Patil 15. Shrimati Kothapalli Geetha 16. Shri Anant Kumar Hegde 17. Prof. Chintamani Malviya 18. Shri 19. Shri Chand Nath 20. Shri 21. Dr. Bhagirath Prasad 22. Shri N.K. Premachandran 23. Shri K.N. Ramachandran 24. Shri Mullappaly Ramachandran 25. Shri Sumedhanand Saraswati 26. Shri M.I. Shanavas 27. Dr. Nepal Singh 28. Dr. Prabhas Kumar Singh 29. Shrimati Neelam Sonkar 30. Shri P.R. Sundaram 31. Shrimati P.K. Sreemathi Teacher

SECRETARIAT

Shri K.P Singh, Joint Secretary Shri Mahesh Tiwari, Director Shri Vinay Shankar Singh, Joint Director Shri R.K Mecolt Singh, Assistant Director Shri K. Sudhir Kumar, Research Officer

(i)

P R E F A C E

I, the Chairman of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development, having been authorized by the Committee, present this Two Hundred and Eighty-third Report of the Committee on the subject ‘The Implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Mid-Day-Meal Scheme '.

2. The Committee visited Kolkata, , Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Thiruvananthapuram and Udaipur and held a number of meetings with the authorities of State Governments of West-Bengal, , , Union Territory of Chandigarh, Punjab, , and along with various organizations, institutions and stakeholders to consider the implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Mid-Day-Meal Scheme (MDMS).

3. The Committee considered the Draft Report on the subject and adopted the same in its meeting held on the 9th December, 2016.

4. For facility of the reference, observations and recommendations of the Committee, have been printed in bold letters at end of Report.

NEW DELHI DR. SATYANARAYAN JATIYA November 9, 2016 Chairman Agrahayana, 18, 1938 (Saka) Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development (ii) ACRONYMS

BRC - Block Resource Centre CRC - Cluster Resource Centres CWSN - Children with Special Needs

DPEP - District Primary Education Programme DBT - DI - Distt. Inspector DPEP - District Primary Education Programme DIET - District Institute of Education and Training EBB - Educationally Backward Blocks GH - Girls Hostel

IEDSS - Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage ICT - Information and Communication technologies at School JRM - Joint Review Mission KSQAO - Karnataka School Quality Assessment Organization KSQAAC - Karnataka School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Council LEP - Learning Enhancement Programme LSG - Local Self Government MDMS - Mid- Day-Meal Scheme MIC, SED - Minister-in-charge, Department of School Education NVS - Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti

(iii) NMEICT - National Mission on Education through Information & Communication Technology NP-NSPE - National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education NUEPA - National University of Educational Planning and Administration NER - Net Enrolment Ratio NCERT - National Council of Educational Research and Training NIOS - National Institute of Open Schooling OER - Open Educational Resources PTR - Pupil Teacher Ratio PRIS - Panchayati Raj Institutions PAB - Programme Approval Board RTE - Right to Education to Free and Compulsory Education RMSA - Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan STC - Special Training Centre SCERT - State Council of Education Research and Training SCR - Student Classroom Ratio STF - Subject Teacher Forum SIEMAT - State Institute of Educational Management and Training SARAL - Systemiser Administration Reform for Achieving Learning of Student SMC - School Management Committees SSA - Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan TLM - Teaching Learning Material VE - Vocational Education

(vi) REPORT

Education is vital requirement for nation building. It is the education, which provides the requisite knowledge and skills for the sustained growth of the economy and in return ensures the overall progress. In nut shell, education renders critical input for human resource development. India’s education is presently in the concurrent list and the objective is to promote meaningful educational partnership between the Central and State Governments. The scenario is that the Central Government makes the national policies and States have to follow it. India’s education system is mainly comprised of elementary education, secondary education, undergraduate level and post-graduate level, respectively. The post-independence era, exhibited a system of education which was characterized by a large scale inter and intra-regional imbalances. A number of steps have been taken since then, to bridge this gap, and appreciable achievements have been witnessed so far.

An Overview

2. As of the present, the following statistics regarding the school education provided to the Committee by the Ministry of HRD during the examination of Demands for Grants 2016-17 of the Ministry, gives a very encouraging sign of the achievements:-

Table 1: Universal Access to Elementary Education

1998-99 2014-15

Gross Access Ratio (Primary) 83% 99%

Gross Access Ratio (Upper Primary) 76% 98%

Gross Enrolment ratio (Primary) 92% 100.08%

Gross Enrolment ratio (Upper Primary) 58% 91.24% Dropout Rate (Primary) 40% 16.83%

Dropout Rate (Elementary) 57% 32.62%

Out of School Children 134.6 lakh (2005) 60.64 lakh (2014)

2.1 The Department further added that there has been increased enrolment share of girls/SC/ST/Muslims in school education. The Gender Parity Index which was 0.94 in 2009-10, increased to 1.02 in 2013-14 at primary level and for upper primary level it increased from 0.93 to 1.06. The share of different categories is depicted in Table given below :-

Table 2: Share of Girls, SC, ST and Muslims in total Enrolment

Primary Upper Primary Social group 2009-10 2014-15 2009-10 2014-15 Girls 48.46% 48.19% 48.12% 48.63% SC 20.07% 19.93% 19.17% 19.55% ST 11.54% 10.83% 9.4% 9.76% Muslims 13.48% 14.37%` 11.89% 12.60% Source : DISE

However, these also highlight the long distance that the nation has to travel to realize the goal for universal, equitable and excellence in the educational standards for students. With a view to enhance the reach of elementary education, the Government launched a mission mode programme in the name of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan SSA since 2000-2001. This programme not only emphasizes on universal access and retention of students in the school but also bridges the gap of gender and social categories and finally improves the quality of learning.

I Sarvashiksha Abhiyan (SSA)

3. As regards the budget allocation to SSA, the Department further informed the Committee that Central Government has accorded high priority to Education Sector. Expenditure on Education in 2011-12, 2012-13 (Revised Estimate) and 2013-14 (Budget Estimate), as percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been 3.98%, 4.35% and 4.44% respectively. During Twelfth five Year Plan, the Plan Outlay was for Rs. 3,43,028 crore for the Department of School Education and Literacy as compared to actual expenditure of Rs.1,37,902.94 crore in Eleventh Five Year Plan.

3.1 Insofar as SSA scheme is concerned budgetary position is mentioned as under:

Table 3: PAB Approvals Actual AE as a Sl. Revised Expenditure Year (Central Share) Expenditure % of No. (RE) (Rs. crore) (Rs. crore) (AE) (Rs. crore) RE 1 2012-2013 45418.94 23875.83 23858.01 99.93 2 2013-2014 31016.34 26608.01 24820.93 93.28 3 2014-2015 36391.45 24380.00 24122.51 98.94 4 2015-2016 40200.43 22015.42 21666.52 98.42 5 2016-2017 46701.62 22500.00(BE)# 17786.26* 79.05 *as on 30.09.2016 # against demand of Rs. 55,000 crore. Additional allocation of Rs. 21957 crore has been demanded at RE stage for year 2016-17. The BE of Rs. 55,000 crore for year 2017-18 for SSA has been proposed. 3.2 The funds as provided by M/o Finance for implementation of SSA programme at BE/RE stage at the beginning of the Financial Year during budget presentation encompassing the Budget Estimate (BE), Revised Estimate (RE), PAB outlay & GoI share during 2014-15 to 2016-17 under SSA are as under:- Table 4: (Rs. in Crore) Year BE RE/Final Grant PAB outlay GoI share Central share released 2014-15 28258.00 24380.00 56137.26 33950.46 24122.51 2015-16 22000.00 22015.42 63412.99 40204.75 21666.52 2016-17 22500.00 Not Available 74248.70 46701.61 17786.26* *as on 30.09.2016 3.3 The funds provided by Ministry of Finance through RE/BE are released as central share to State and UTs as per the prevailing funding pattern. It may be seen from the above table that there has been deficit of funds provided by Ministry of Finance and the central share required to be released as per the approvals of PAB. The shortage in allocation by Ministry of Finance at RE/BE stage has been primarily due to increased devolution of funds from 32% to 42% through 14th Finance Commission Award, which came into effect from 2015-16. This increased devolution has led to an increase in the fiscal autonomy of the states but however, the Committee learnt that the States have not so far aligned allocated additional funds to the priority areas. The Department of School Education and Literacy has accordingly requested all State Governments for ensuring allocation of adequate amount for the school education sector in their State’s Budget in view of the acceptance of the recommendation of the 14th Finance Commission for higher devolution of funds to States of the central divisible pool of taxes for the period from 2015-16 to 2019-20. 3.4 In the Action taken notes on the 280th Report of the Committee on the examination of Demands for Grants (2016-17) of the Department of SE&L, the Committee was informed that the RTE Act 2009 in its Schedule lays down pupil teacher ratio for both primary and upper primary schools. At primary level the Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) should be 1:30 and at the upper primary level it should be 1:35. As per the Act this PTR should be maintained at the school level. The available data is shown as given below :- Table no.5 Percentage of Single Teacher Schools Percentage of Adverse PTR PS UPS PS UDISE 2013-14 12.44 4.98 37.35 UDISE 2014-15 12.16 5.18 35.61

3.5 The SSA provides assistance to States/UTs for reimbursement of the expenditure incurred towards at least 25% admissions of the children belonging to weaker section and disadvantaged group as notified by respective State Government in private unaided schools under Section 12(1) (c) of the RTE Act, 2009, based on per child cost norms notified by the State Government, subject to a maximum ceiling of 20% of the size of the SSA Annual Work Plan and Budget with effect from the year 2015-16. States/UTs have reported that a total of 18.10 lakh children were studying in private schools under Section 12(1)(c) during 2014-15.

3.6 In the status note provided by the Ministry of HRD, it was also informed that the Department of Elementary Education and Literacy launched Swachh Vidyalaya Initiative under the rubric of propagated by the Prime Minister on 15th August, 2014 and the objective entails for providing separate for boys and girls in all government schools within a year. Under Swachh Vidyalaya Initiative, 4,17,796 toilets were constructed in 2,61,400 schools in a period of one year, thus ensuring that every single government school now has a separate for girls and boys. This includes schools in the most difficult to reach areas in the country such as districts facing Left Wing Extremism (LWE) in forest, remote mountainous terrain and in crowded slums. The initiative was made successful in partnership with all State government, CPSUs and Private Corporates. With this, about 13.58 crore children in 11.08 lakh Government schools in all over the country now have access to toilet facilities.

3.7 Further, the under-given data of cumulative progress of civil works under SSA for the period ending 31.03.2016 shows the satisfactory progress concerning the improvement of infrastructures relating to SSA:-

Table 6: Cumulative Progress of civil works under SSA for the period ending 31.03.2016

Cumulative Cumulative %age completed Sanction upto Achievement Activity 2015-16 (completed by 31.03.2016) Primary Schools 199230 183386 92.05 Upper Primary Schools 112392 105943 94.26 Additional Class Rooms 1861336 1740487 93.51 Drinking Water 238973 229742 96.14 Boys toilets 375976 350888 93.33 Separate Girls Toilets 499946 490779 98.17 CWSN 138585 114627 82.71

State/UT – wise progress of civil works under SSA is at Annexure. II 4. With a view to enhance enrolment, attendance and retention and simultaneously to improve the nutritional status of children, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘National Programme of Nutritional support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE)’ was launched on the 15th August, 1995. The scheme was extended during 2008-09 to cover children of upper primary classes and the name of the Scheme was changed as ‘National Programme of Mid-Day Meal in Schools’. Mid-Day Meal Scheme covers all school children studying in I-VIII classes in Government and Government- aided schools, Special Training Centres (STCs) and madrasas & maqtabs supported under Sarva Shilsha abhiyan (SSA). The scheme has been revised from time to time with regard to its content and coverage. The MDMS is a centrally sponsored scheme and the budget allocation covering BE/RE Plan as well as Actuals for the Twelfth Plan Period is shown as under:- Table 7: ( Rs. in Crore) 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 BE 11937.00 13215.00 13215.00 9236.40 9700 RE 11500.00 12189.16 11050.90 9236.40 Actuals 10844.13 10903.88 10523.39 9096.80

The approved outlay of the scheme during 11th Five Year Plan was 48,000 crore against which 38,490.91 crore was released. The Planning Commission had approved 90,155.00 crore for the scheme during the 12th Plan. The Budget Estimates 2014-15 was for 13,215.00 crore against which an amount of 10,523.39 crore has been released. The BE for 2015-16 is for 9,236.40 crore. However, according to the Department, the allocation for MDM Scheme during the last year was not adequate and additional funds were sought. During the year 2016-17, the B.E. has been enhanced to 9700 crore, which is an enhancement of 463.6 Crore. The year-wise achievements of physical and financial targets of the scheme during the last four years are as under:-

Table 8: Components 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 Children covered (in crore) 10.68 10.80 10.22 10.20 Foodgrains allocated (in lakh MTs) 29.55 29.77 29.33 28.83 Budget allocation (in crore) 11937 13215 13215 9236.40 Total Exp. (in crore) 10868 10927.21 10526.97 9096.80

4.1 The expenditure in the budget allocation for MDMS was shared earlier in the ratio of 75:25 for non-NER states and 90:10 for NER states. Since 01.04.2015, the funding pattern has been in the ratio of 60:40 between Centre and the States; except that it will be 90:10 for 8 NER States and 3 Himalayan States and 100% central funding for the UTs. Since beginning funds under MDMS are released directly to the States Government/ UTs. State Government/UT is the implementing agency and it has active control over release of funds and real time monitoring of those funds in the implementation of MDMS in the State/UT.

5. Keeping in view the requirements of improvement in elementary education in the perspective of implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS), the Government has taken a number of initiatives to improve it in the Country. In conjugation with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, some of the Schemes are highly successful and popular viz., Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), education through Sangathan (KVS) and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS). Some Schemes like the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme, Use of ICT in Education, Accreditation of Teachers’ Training Institutes, etc., are path- breaking initiatives. There are also some initiatives which are still in the formative stage and needs regular consultations. The government keeps on soliciting the feedback in education sector from all stakeholders so as to strengthen the initiatives for growth of quality in education in totality.

6. As regards honorarium to cooks-cum-helpers, in the Action Taken Notes on the 280th Report of the Committee on examination of Demands for Grants (2016-17) of the Depatrtment of S.E.&L, the Committee was informed that they had submitted a note for Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs during July, 2014 for revising the norms of assistance for payment of honorarium to cook- cum helpers to Rs. 2000/- per cook-cum helper per month for 12 months in a year instead of Rs. 1000/- per month per cook-cum helper for 10 months. However, the proposed revision could not be implemented as a decision was deferred.

7. The Committee during the examination of Demands for Grants (2016-17) of the Ministry of HRD, Department of School Education and Literacy discussed different facets concerning implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) and after consideration made suitable observations/recommendations in its 280th Report. After scrutinizing the response of the government on the Committee’s recommendations/observations, a need was felt to build up and gather first hand information at the ground level of the prevailing conditions in the field of implementation of SSA and MDMS. The Committee, accordingly, undertook visits to different places in the country and held a number of meetings with various organizations, institutions, authorities and stakeholders to consider the problems and suggestions that affects the implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS). The impression obtained by the Committee is summarized in the succeeding paragraphs. Feedback from the State Govts. West Bengal 8. The Committee visited Kolkata and held discussion on the 2nd July, 2015 with the authorities of State Government of West Bengal including; various organizations, institutions, and stakeholders on the implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Mid-Day-Meal Scheme (MDMS).

9. It was learnt that for the implementation of SSA, out of the fund received from the GOI and proportionate State share, the following activities with the Plan Approval Board (PAB) approval are going on/completed (for the year 2014-15):

 Construction of one new upgraded secondary school at Uttar Dinajpur.  Civil work activities in progress in 153 schools out of approved 287 schools.  Out of 13 approved toilet blocks, work is going on in 8 schools.  Annual School grant distributed at 2137 schools.  Modules for teachers’ training on inclusive education, science, mathematics and English language have been developed; Teachers’ training on inclusive education and career counseling is going on at sub-district level.

9.1 The Committee was also informed that following innovative drives undertaken/planned under SSA/RMSA in West Bengal:

 Sankhyalaghu Shiksha Utkarsha Abhiyan  Shiksha Utkarsha Abhiyan  Self Defence Training for Girls  Mobile Library Van  E-Learning cum Library

9.2 It was explained to the Committee that the Sankhyalaghu Shiksha Utkarsha Abhiyan aims to raise confidence among minority students so that they can also feel the present system of education as their own. Further, 5000 students will be covered under this programme. Besides, each Centre will consist of 25 minority students of class X having low learning level in class IX. The estimated expenditure is Rs.500/- per child.

9.3 The Committee was informed that the objective of Dalit Shiksha Utkarsha Abhiyan is to arrest drop out among SC/ST children at the end of class IX and to enhance basic learning skill in certain subjects. The programme will be conducted for 4800 children of class X who will appear M.P. Exam 2016. It also aims to remove the sense of alienation in the class rooms and tries to improve self-confidence among children. 9.4 As regards the Self-defence Training for Girls, the Committee was informed that its objective is to equip the girls with defense skills. It spreads a message to the violence-maker that girls are being ready for counter-defense. The awareness generation among girls is also developed. The capacity building of physical education teachers as a part of school curriculum is also strengthened.

9.5 Mobile Library Van supports low capacity of school libraries to supply books as per need of all the children. The arrangement is made for one large bus for each Block for the whole year. The bus equipped with racks/shelves and books will move from one school to another in the same Block. The bus will visit at least once in a fortnight in each school and books are issued to the students and also returned after use. The Budget requirement for this programme is for Rs.10, 00,000/- per District.

9.6 Further, the Mobile Science Laboratory Van ensures quality learning in Science and Mathematics in schools. The provision is for a specially designed bus with provision of at least five types of activities/experiments around the inside wall. The middle of the bus is vacant so that group of 10-15 students and teachers can freely move. The bus shall have easy access to the school. For this, Polba – Dadpur block (rural) of Hooghly district is selected on pilot basis.

9.7 It was further informed that e-Learning cum Library deals with communication via audio- visual mode for the students for sharing of ideas and knowledge. It makes learning interesting and describes for better understanding. This is an all-in-one computer-cum-projector device which combines functionally of multiple devices in a compact unit and helps students learn, engage and also entertain themselves. The scheme is to be implemented in 100 heritage schools on pilot basis.

9.8 Under the Training of Teachers and Resource Persons, proposal of Training of total 22614 teachers was approved. Out of these, 4216 teachers of Social Science group are being trained in inclusive education & career counseling. 15000 teachers are scheduled to be trained in Science subjects by State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and TESS India on Distance Learning Mode. Rest of the teachers will be trained in English Communication through SCERT & Institute of English. Further, training of 200 HM on School leadership development programme would be taken up by SCERT and National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) jointly, besides the training of 200 MRPs and 200 KRPs in collaboration with NCERT.

9.9 As regards the integrated Schemes under Secondary Education and to ensure administrative efficiency and optimal utilization of resources, the Committee came to know that the following schemes are to be subsumed under SSA/RMSA:-

. IEDSS (Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage) . GH (Girls’ Hostel) . ICT @ schools . VE (Vocational Education)

9.10 The IEDSS (Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage), is funded totally through GOI. The number of students covered under this programme is 24001. Fund approved by GOI during 2014-15 amounts to Rs.768.03 lakh. The fund released by GOI as 1st installment is for Rs. 460.82 lakh. Fund already sub-allocated to districts towards student benefits amounts to Rs.457.28 lakh. Related to this programme, the MHRD, GOI has approved recruitment of 483 Special Educators/Resource Persons.

9.11 For the programme of Girls Hostel (GH), the total outlay is for Rs.6974.92 lakh. The Central share @ 90% amounts to Rs.6277.43 lakh. The GoI has released to State, Rs.969.23 lakh as 1st instalment. The Implementing agency for GH is Westinghouse Saxby Farmer Limited and Britannia Engineering Limited.

9.12 Concerning Information and Communication Technology (ICT) @ School, the project approval for implementation covers 3943 schools, out of which 5 schools are SMART schools. The implementation has been completed in 3548 schools and it is in progress in 400 schools. The Fund received from GoI amounts to Rs.5631.67 lakh which has been utilized fully.

10. As regards MDMS in West Bengal, the Committee was apprised that there exists SMS based Reporting and Monitoring System called ‘ALOSHREE’. Further, district level Steering- cum-Monitoring Committee meetings are being held regularly. To reduce wastage of MDM food grains (boiled rice), full volume of lifted food grains are being utilized. Storing places of MDM food grains (both at carrying agents’s end and school end) are visited by all ends to look after the safety and security measures taken to store the food grains. The FCI sends sample of foodgrains to BDO/Chairman of the Municipality and District Quarter before delivery of it. Parity in terms of quality between sample and delivered food grains are checked by all levels. Municipality and Panchayat level functionaries are requested to take active part in opening of their Bank Accounts. All Bank Accounts of the Cook-cum-Helpers are only of any CBS nationalized Bank. All concerned Oil Companies have been requested to ensure availability of LPG for cooking MDM.

10.1 At the State level, the State Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee review the MDM work at quarterly intervals and arrange for taking necessary action so that MDM programme is carried out smoothly and grievance redressal at all levels is done in time. They also review the District Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee report regularly and arrange for taking necessary remedial measures as early as possible. The State SMC further ensures that SMC meetings of all levels are held regularly and necessary feedback is communicated to the State Authority promptly.

10.2 The duty of all School Management Committees (SMCs) is to guide and monitor the implementing agencies so that the scheme is being implemented as per Govt. norms. They also assess its impact and take corrective steps wherever necessary, discuss on the effects of co- ordination, and ensure the convergence of efforts of concerned departments. It is also be their duty to mobilize community support and promote public-private partnership of the programme.

10.3 The Committee was also apprised of the structure of different Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee as under:

District Level SMCs District Magistrate - Chairman Two MLAs of the district as nominated by the Minister-In- Charge, Deptt. of School Education of West Bengal (MIC,SED) - Members ADM In-charge of MDM - Member District Inspector (DI) of schools (Primary) - Member District Inspector (DI) of schools (Secondary) - Member District Controller (F&S) - Member District Manager of FCI - Member Chief Medical Officer - Member Karmadhaksha, Khadya Sarbaraha Sthayee Samity Zilla - Member Parishad OC Mid Day Meal -Member Convener

10.4 Relating to infrastructural requirements for food safety and hygiene, the Committee came to know that there is requirement of a display board in school for mentioning do’s and don’ts for the Cook-cum-Helpers and the same should be kept inside at a prominent place in the premises in local language for everyone’s understanding. It has to be borne in mind that the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 provides the legal framework for the quality and mandates minimum norms and standards for infrastructures in schools including kitchen- cum-store.

Maharashtra

11. The Committee visited Mumbai and held discussion on the 3rd July, 2015 with the authorities of State Government of Maharashta including various organizations, institutions, and stakeholders on the implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Mid-Day-Meal Scheme (MDMS).

12. The Committee was apprised that under SSA, there has been a significant progress in access and infrastructure facilities in the recent years. Besides, endeavour has been made for a good progress in bridging equity gap. Resulting to this, 98% of the children are enrolled. Average drop out is of 1% Primary, 2% UPS. The transition rate is high. The availability of the primary school to upper primary school is 1.9:1. Further, the Comfortable Pupil Teacher Ratio is 24:1 (Government schools). On the other hand, Comfortable Student Class Room ratio is 28:1 (at Primary). The Participation of renowned Corporate Sectors, NGOs, Institutions etc., is also being encouraged. 12.1 It was informed that there are some Government Marathi Medium schools which are attracting enrollment from Private English medium schools (e.g. Z.P. School Kenjal, Dingore, Navalewadi, Rajapur, etc.), as they provide good quality overall education as well as high quality English education. This is thus indicative of the changing trends in the State in school education in 2015-16. 12.2 The Committee was also given a description of SSA in Maharashtra as under: • 57,767 out of school children admitted in age appropriate class and provided Special Training. • Arrested migration of 49,430 children through Seasonal residential Hostel. • Teachers training on Revised Curriculum provided to 2.5 lakh teachers. • Meena Raju Manch activity in 24,775 Government Upper Primary Schools. • 43 KGBVs in Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs) for out of school girls. • 3.18 lakh children with special needs identified in 2015-16. • Transport, Escorts, Aid and Appliances, Braille Books and Large Print provided to CWSN. • 1.23 crore children received free text books. • 45 lakh children are being benefitted with uniform. • Development of supplementary material in 10 Tribal Languages. • Capacity building of 6.3 lakh School Management Committee members.

12.3 It was further put forth that features like, Inclusive Education of Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS), Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Vocational Education, Girls Hostel Scheme, etc. are being carried out successfully under SSA/RMSA in Maharashtra and these can be described as :-

(i) The Inclusive Education of Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) enables all students with disabilities, after completing eight years of elementary schooling, to pursue further four years of secondary schooling in an inclusive and enabling environment. (ii) ICT was launched in December, 2004 to provide opportunities to students in secondary schools to build their capacity on ICT skills and make them learn through aided learning process. (iii) Vocationalisation of Secondary Education provided for diversification of educational opportunities so as to enhance individual employability, reduce the mismatch between demand and supply of skilled manpower and provided an alternative for those pursuing higher education. (iv) The main objective of Girls Hostel Scheme is to retain the girl child in secondary school so that girl students are not denied the opportunity to continue their study due to distance to school, parents’ financial affordability and other connected societal factors.

13. As regards MDMS, It was also pointed out that it works for provision of Cooked meal and beneficiary students are from std. 1 to 8. The MDMS is applicable to Govt., local Body, Private Aided, Madarsa/Maktaba (supported under SSA), NCPL. The scheme is implemented and Monitored by Steering–cum– Monitoring Committee (SMC). SMC appoint cooking Agency. Cooking work is assigned to SHG, Mahila Mandal, Needy women and NGOs. Further, the rice is transported at school level. Other food grain (pulses) and condiments are also supplied at schools in rural areas through supplier. 13.1 It was also pointed out that, efforts made for MDMS would be summed up as :-

(i) Micronutrient syrup, Protein Powder & Sprinkles Power is provided to students. (ii) Liquid hand wash is provided for hand washing of children. (iii) Provision of Centralized procurement and supply of ingredient (pulses, oil, condiments etc.) through e-tendering process at school level. (iv) Food tasting is done before serving Meal and Taste register is maintained at school level. (v) State Government provide transport assistance @ 450/MT. (vi) Provision for involvement of SHG and NGO on MDMS. (vii) Initiatives are taken for development of kitchen garden (Parasbad) in some schools.

13.2 For monitoring MDMS, it was further informed that the MHRD constituted Joint Review Mission (JRM) visited Maharashtra State during March, 2015. Social Audit conducted in Latur and Pune District. SRM has been constituted under chairmanship of Director, primary education to visit low performing district during November and December, 2014 (Dhule, Osmanabad, Nanded, Aurangabad, Mumbai and Nandurbar). Efforts are taken for conducting regular monitoring meetings. 13.3 The Committee got to know that the Maharashtra State has developed ‘SARAL’(Systematic Administrative Reform for Achieving Learning of Student) database for School, Teacher and Student and declared as unified system of data collection and same will be used for all the purposes. This database will save time and efforts of Teachers and Officers in data collection and allow them to concentrate imparting quality. This would be of immense help for successful execution of MDMS.

Karnataka

14. The Committee visited Bangalore and held discussion on the 6th July, 2015 with the authorities of State Government of Karnataka including various organizations, institutions, and stakeholders on the implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Mid-Day-Meal Scheme (MDMS).

15. The Committee got to know that in the matter of SSA, in Karnataka, School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Council (KSQAAC) has been established at the State level to assess the learning achievement levels of the students and also schools’ performance. KSQAAC has conducted learning achievement surveys through Karnataka State Learning Achievement Survey (KLAS).

15.1 The Government of Karnataka constituted Karnataka school quality assessment organization in 2005. Between 2005 and 2011, the Karnataka School Quality Assessment Organisation (KSQAO) conducted 6 Learning achievement survey on ‘assessment of quality at systemic reforms’ and ‘improvement of teaching – learning process’. Accordingly, there has been a significant progress in Karnataka on the issue of assessment of quality in school education.

15.2 Further, the Committee also came to know about the following Learning Enhancement Programme at Elementary and Secondary levels: (i) Strengthening of early grade reading, writing and comprehension. (ii) Strengthening of mathematics and science learning. (iii) ICT : Computer Aided Learning Centres (iv) State Initiatives related to enhancement of quality: Declaring the year 2014-15 as “Quality enhancement year”. 15.3 Insofar as strengthening of mathematics and science learning are concerned the Committee was apprised by the State Govt. that initiatives are undertaken for the capacity building of teachers teaching science and mathematics. ICT is used in effective teaching of Mathematics and Science subjects. There is teaching of Sarala Ganitha (simple mathematics). Ganitha Andolana programme is being implemented in North Eastern Distts. of Karnataka in collaboration with Akshara Foundation. Under the Nali-Kali pedagogy, the Activity Based Learning method is functional for students from 1st to 3rd standards. Maths games and matrix melas in school and block levels are being conducted. Besides, Olympiad exam is also conducted by UNICEF. Under Agastya International Foundation’s Initiatives, more than hundred Mobile Labs take hand on science education and digital literacy to the village doorstep. Each lab reaches to 25,000 children in a year. 45 science centres catering as science resource hubs for surrounding schools and communities. Science Exhibitions are also being arranged regularly.

15.4 Further, the Committee was informed of the fund constraints affecting quality of education under SSA as follows: i) Due to shortage of funds to SSA during the last few years, several programmes which were successfully implemented have been discontinued. For example, Life Skills Programmes (KISHORI), NPEGEL, Meena Clubs, Chinnara Zilla Darshana, Adventure Camps etc. ii) Number of days of training have been reduced. iii) There is shortage of work books and drawing books with crayons iv) There is short supply of Geography kits v) Unit cost for trainings has not been enhanced vi) There is shortage/Nil Teaching Learning Material (TLM) grant for teachers.

15.5 The Committee learnt that there is overall shortage of 4777 teachers in the State. The reason for shortage of teachers, inter alia, is that the post of teachers could not be filled up since all recruitments in Government including recruitment of teachers have been stopped till the rules with respect of the amendment of Art.371(J) of the constitution (providing special status to Hyderabad- Karnataka region) are finalized. Presently, the rules have been finalized and the formalities pertaining to identification of local (Hyderabad-Karnataka region) cadre are being conducted by DDPI’s of the districts of Hyderabad-Karnataka region. In addition to the above, there is amendment of the cadre and recruitment rules related to teachers of Upper Primary School by fixing the eligibility as degree with professional qualification.

15.6 The recruitment of teachers is expected to be undertaken soon after the completion of necessary modalities as explained in preceding para. However, as a temporary measure, guest teachers will be appointed and will be functioning in the vacant teachers’ post. In addition, measures have been taken to reappoint teachers in the same place to ensure teachers availability who are retiring in the middle of the year till the end of the academic year.

15.7 The Committee also learnt about the progress made in providing high quality interactive knowledge modules over the internet/intranet through the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) as under: (i) Under ‘Website for teachers-good teaching practices’, the Karnataka Open Educational Resources (Karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER) wiki acts as a repository of resources to support teachers in terms of their professional development as well as classroom processes. The wiki is built by a community of educators who will be engaged in the creation, review, curation and publishing of digital curricular resources on a continuous basis.

(ii) ICT is used in teaching-learning processes by the teachers who are trained under Subject Teacher forum (STF) trainings. Teachers, working in the schools covered under ICT phase II, have been trained in using ICT.

(iii) Under ‘Innovative classroom practices, the STF-trained teachers trained in several public software platforms and applications, are better prepared to integrate ICTs into the classroom and are able to realize more constructive teaching-learning processes. Teachers are also contacting one another through the virtual email forum for sharing resources. As part of the training programme, open educational resources have been created on www.karnataeducation.org.in/KOER. Teachers have been trained to create Open Educational Resources (OER) making use of web portal-Karnataka Open Educational Resources(KOER). The Subject Teacher Forum is an in-service teacher training programme for secondary school teachers in ICT Phase I and Phase II schools.

16. The authorities of State Government of Karnataka shed light on the MDMS by elucidating the Committee that Mid Day Meal Programme is ’s flagship programme with State Government to cover the entire Karnataka. Mid Day Meal Programme was implemented in 7 educationally and economically backward north-eastern districts of the State during 2001-02. Later, the scheme was extended to other districts of the State in a phased manner. As per the directions of the , the scheme of providing hot cooked mid day meal was implemented for all the children of classes 1 to 5 of Government schools. The programme was extended to children of classes 1 to 5 of Government aided primary schools. The scheme also extended to classes 6 to 7. Now the Government of India is funding the scheme for children of classes 1 to 8. Government of Karnataka is providing hot cooked meals to the children of 9 th to 10th standards of government and government aided schools and it is providing milk for 1 to 10 th standard students in weekly three days out of its own resources. 16.1 The Committee was further apprised of MDMS that this is a regular programme with no discrimination among children. Over and above good proportion of SC/ST cooks-cum-helpers are employed in MDMS in Karnataka. Further, the Fund’s flow is regular and allocation is adequate. Parents as well as children have positive opinion about MDM. In addition, the Health card is available and updated in most of the schools. MDM is implementing through ZP and TP. Besides, PRIs are involved in the Programme. 16.2 It was also informed that there exists the Akshara Dasoha programme which is to improve enrolment and attendance of students in school and to improve retention rate, besides improving the child health by increasing nutrition level. This also aims to improve learning ability levels of children and bring social equity. This programme further promotes to provide MDM to the children of draught affected area during summer vacation. 16.3 The Committee constituted at village and municipality ward level for selection of cooking staff should follow all the instructions given in the Government Order and in its manual. For selection of cooks, there exists a Selection Committee which comprises of the following members :- (i) President of Grama Panchayats and ward members in Municipality/City corporation shall be the President of this Committee. (ii) S.D.M.C. President – Member (iii) Head master of the School – Member (iv) Chief officer in City corporation/Secretary of the Chief of Municipality/Secretary of Grama Panchayat – Secretary of the Committee.

17. The Committee visited Chandigarh from 18th to 21st November, 2015 and held discussions with authorities of Administration of Union Territory of Chandigarh, State Governments of Punjab and Haryana; various organizations, institutions, and stakeholders on the implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Mid-day Meal Scheme (MDMS). Chandigarh 17.1 The Committee was informed that UT of Chandigarh is mainly urban habitation (Urban Population : 97.25%) having few villages. Literacy Rate is 86% (Male 90%, Female 81.19%). For SSA in UT Chandigarh, following figures reveal the prevalent scenario.

(a). Status of schools :- Table 9: S.No Level of School Senior Secondary Elementary/ Primary Total . Secondary Schools Upper Primary Schools Schools Schools 1. Govt. Schools 39 51 13 7 110 2. Govt. Aided Schools 7 0 0 0 7 3. Private Un-aided 34 23 13 4 74 Schools 4. Central/NVS/Others 5 1 0 0 6 TOTAL 85 75 26 11 197

(b) Status of enrolment in Govt. Schools Table 10: Sl.No. Level Boys Girls Total 1. Pre-primary 3480 3481 6961 2. Primary 28409 26759 55168 3. Upper Primary 22182 19760 41942 4. Secondary 13749 11340 25089 5. Senior Secondary 12526 10809 23335 TOTAL 80346 72149 152495

(c). Status of teachers in schools :- Table 11: S.No. Cadre No. of posts Post Filled Posts sanctioned Post Filled sanctioned under SSA under SSA 1. NTT 254 169 NIL - 2. JBT 1398 1166 728 548 3. TGT 2651 2261 647 492 4. PGT 549 512 NIL - TOTAL 4853 4096 1375 1040 17.2 The Committee further came to know that the Budget allocation to School Education (Elementary and Secondary) during 2015-16 under plan is Rs.64.44 Cr. and under non-plan, it is Rs.262.07 Cr. Total budget allocation for U.T. Chandigarh is Rs. 3606.29 Cr. As such, the budget allocation for education is 9.05% of total allocation. Further, the Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) in Govt. schools available as on 30th September, 2014 is as under:-

i) Elementary stage - 1:33 ii) Secondary Stage - 1:29 iii) Senior Secondary Stage - 1:40 Overall - 1:33

It was pointed out that the overall PTR at secondary stage has reduced to 1:29 approximately with the joining of newly appointed teachers. The class-size at Primary stage will reduce to 30 students per section at Elementary and 40 students per section at Secondary Level which will improve the quality of education in U.T. Chandigarh.

17.3 It was also informed that concerning the Student Classroom Ratio (SCR), present Student Classroom Ratio of Govt. Schools of Chandigarh is 1:48. To overcome the problem of shortage of classrooms, many schools are functioning in double shifts. To improve it, 3 high schools have been opened this year (One in Dhanas, one in Sector 45 and one in Pocket No.8 Manimajra)., 6 new schools and additional class rooms in the existing schools are under construction.

17.4 The Committee was further informed that the Education Department of UT Chandigarh Administration has taken all possible measures to implement the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 in the right earnest. Child entitlements under the RTE Act, i.e. Uniform, Text books, Exercise books and mid day meal are provided to the students of Classes I-VIII. 650 students belonging to economically weaker section and disadvantaged group were admitted in Private Schools during the year 2015-16.

17.5 It was also informed that to improve the teaching learning process, 2,30,000 high quality workbooks have been printed and provided free of cost to the students of class I-V. 2 Medium Govt. Schools are set up as smart schools and the e-content is developed by the teachers under the guidance of SCERT Sector 32, Chandigarh. 200 Smart Classrooms will be set up in 10 Govt. Schools by the end of this session. Further, no tuition fee is charged from girls student upto Class 12th. 22 Vocational Courses in the fields of Commerce, Engineering, Para-Medical and IT are running in 22 Govt. Senior Secondary Schools. The products developed/prepared by the students of Hone Science based Vocational Courses are exhibited in Annual Exhibition-cum-Sale.

17.6 The Committee was further informed that all Schools have separate toilet for Girls and most of schools have CWSN friendly toilets. Nutritional MDM to the pre-school students are being provided exclusively out of State Budget. There is provision of sharing of school playgrounds for neighborhood children during post school hours. Centralized Online Admission for Class XI is being executed. Initiatives have been taken for 200 Smart Classrooms (in 10 Schools) along with e-content. GPS-cum-CCTV enabled school buses along with female conductors are also operational. Recent Recruitment of Regular Teachers (1140) have been accomplished without holding interview. Provision has been made for in-service specialized training of teachers in SCERT & RIE. 17.7 The Committee was also informed of other features under SSA, as under:

(i) Free textbooks have been provided to 108332 students studying at Elementary level. (ii) School Grant provided to 206 schools (106 Primary & 100 Upper Primary) @ Rs.5000/- for primary schools and @ Rs.7000/- for upper primary. (iii) Maintenance Grant provided to 206 Government Schools (106 Primary and 100 Upper Primary) @ Rs.7500/- per school. (iv) Two Days follow up training imparted to 1090 teachers at cluster level. Five Days training imparted to 169 teachers teaching Maths & Science to Upper Primary Classes at SCERT. CRCs & URCs coordinators attended five days capacity building programmes. (v) 3687 children with special needs (CWSN) are enrolled in Government Schools & are being provided support services like Transport and Escort Allowance, skill training, therapies, Aids & Appliances etc. 92 teachers teaching at primary level are undergoing 7 days training on curriculum adaptation. (vi) Sample based State Level Achievement Survey conducted in 36 Govt. schools. Under the survey, students studying in classes, 3rd and 5th were covered from 36 Government Schools. (vii) Awareness generation activities were conducted in all the govt. schools on “Beti Bachao Beti Padao Abhiyan”.

(viii) Teaching/Training modules procured from NCERT are provided to all 106 govt. primary schools. These modules are helpful for teachers to develop the important skill of reading with comprehension and writing with a purpose among young learners.

18. As regards, Mid-Day Meal Scheme, the Committee was apprised that it aimed to cover all students in classes (I-VIII) in Govt., Govt. aided schools & Madarsas. In UT Chandigarh, presently Cooked and wholesome meal under MDMS is being served to about 72000 Children from class Pre-Nursery to 8th standards of 120 Institutions (110 Govt. Schools, 6 Aided Schools & 4 Madarsas). Nutri has been added additionally at the cost of 56 paise per meal out of state Budget. Nutritional Mid-Day-Meal is provided to the children of Pre-Nursery and Nursery Classes exclusively out of State Budget.

18.1 For the Mid-Day-Meal Kitchens, it was informed that in order to provide cooked and wholesome meal to the eligible students of Primary and Upper primary classes of Govt./Govt. Aided schools and Madarsas in UT Chandigarh and to ensure good quality and hygienic food, Chandigarh Administration has engaged the following 3 centralized reputed cooking institutes :-

i) Dr. Ambedkar Institute of Hotel Management, Sector-42, Chandigarh; ii) Chandigarh Institute of Hotel Management, Sector-42, Chandigarh; and iii) Hotel Shivalikview (CITCO), Sector-17, Chandigarh. Besides above, seven cluster based kitchens are also being run from seven schools.

18.2 The type of Food being served in UT Chandigarh, Mid-Day-Meal menu has been prepared keeping in view the liking of school children, food norms fixed by the GOI and its nutrition value. Mid-Day-Meal is served from the three centralized kitchen to 112 schools on rotation basis as per following weekly menu and 7 schools based kitchens prepare MDM for their own school children as per their liking.

18.3 So far monitoring is concerned, the Committee was briefed of the the detailed modalities as under:

(i) All the HCS/PCS Officers working in Chandigarh Administration and Senior Officers of Education Department monitor the MDM activities. (ii) Senior Officers monitor the implementation of MDM programme at the Cooking Institutes and Schools. They check the taste, quality of MDM and hygiene. (iii) School Management Committees monitor the implementation of MDM programme in schools. (iv) Four committees consisting of Cluster heads, SMC members and NGOs also have been constituted to monitor the implementation of MDM programme. (v) Feedback forms have been introduced for monitoring and ensuring accountability of everyone related to the mammoth effort of providing regularly cooked Meals. (vi) Teacher also supervises the distribution of meals. (vii) NSS/NCC/SCOUTS & GUIDES from senior classes are also associated in the Mid-Day-Meal activities like guiding the junior students to pray before taking meals and also serve meals.

18.4 Pertaining to the Redressal System for MDMS, feedback from the students is taken on the proforma devised by the department to redress complaints of the students and improve quality of the MDM. To redress the grievances of the parents a helpline no. 0172-5021697 has been introduced which is also on the website of department and also displayed at the Schools. Mechanized transportation has been introduced to ensure timely delivery of hot cooked meals in Schools. Retired/experienced/matured persons have been engaged to monitor/supervise the quality, quantity and hygiene of cooked meals; delivery of hot cooked food in the schools; and to get feedback from students and schools.

18.5 Further, the quality of MDM is got checked from the Health Department. Besides this, surprise inspections are also carried out by HCS/PCS officers. Senior Officers of Education Department also monitor the quality, hygiene and process of cooking, delivery of MDM from the centralized kitchens and school based kitchens.

18.6 The Committee was further apprised that the challenges in implementation of MDMS in Chandigarh are as follows:

i) Only 47% and 44% children availed MDM against enrolment in Primary and Upper Primary schools respectively. ii) The food grain utilization is only 42%. iii) Vegetables are not part of menu for three days in a week. iv) Less seasonal vegetables are used in school based kitchens. Double fortified salt is not used. Hygiene of cook-cum-helper and capacity building need to be taken care of. Water tanks need to be cleaned regularly. v) More than 22% students were bringing their own Tiffin and about 3.67% students have opted out of MDM. Students of evening shift of primary schools reported that they were provided rice based Menu only.

18.7 In addition, the Committee was apprised of the best practices being followed in the UT of Chandigarh for effective implementation of the scheme which are as under:

i) UT is providing additional Rs.3.13/day/child and Rs.2.28/day/child for Primary and Upper Primary respectively from UT resources. ii) Honorarium to CCH is Rs.2622 per month per Cook-cum-Helper. UT is providing Rs.1872 as UT share in honorarium to CCH against Rs.250. iii) Kitchen gardening has been started. iv) CCTV Cameras have been installed in the all centralized kitchens and school level kitchens. v) Kitchen waste is utilized for preparation of compost. vi) Teachers in charge MDM got training from Chandigarh Institute of Hotel Management. vii) Feedback from the students to redress complaints and improve quality of the MDM.

Punjab

19. The Committee took the issues of SSA with authorities of State Government of Punjab including various organizations, institutions, and stakeholders. The Committee was acquainted that in Punjab despite a comfortable pupil teacher ratio (17), there are as many as 25% primary and 18% upper primary schools with adverse PTR. There are only 12% upper primary schools which have the subject teachers as per RTE norm. The figure of out of school children (8338) reported by the State for the current year appeared to be depressed, since it was not in line with other flow rate indicators. The dropout rate at primary level is more than 2% in 8 districts. The Gross enrolment ratio is less than 100% in 15 districts at upper primary level.

19.1 Under SSA, it was also informed that for 2015-16, an amount of Rs.98473.90 lakh has been approved as outlay for 2015-16. So far the Central share released to State Government is to the tune of Rs.16931.92 lakh as on 12.11.2015 for the financial year 2015-16.

19.2 Referring the challenges in implementation of MDMS, the Committee was informed that there is 3 months delay in the release of central assistance to schools. Further, the monthly data entries in MIS web portal has not been completed. There has been reported negative closing balance of cooking cost on 31 December, 2014 with five districts namely Fatehgah Sahib, Pathankot, Patiala, SAS Nagar and Taran Taran. 19.3 The Committee’s attention was also drawn to best practices being followed in the State of Punjab for effective implementation of the scheme which are given as under:-

(i) State Government is contributing Rs.450 against Rs. 250 towards honorarium per cook-cum-helper per month. (ii) A SMS based Web system has been started in the District Roopnagar on Pilot basis for daily monitoring of Mid-Day-Meal. (iii) Two iron storage bins provided to each school out of the sale proceeds of empty gunny bags. (iv) The mothers of the students are participating in cooking and serving of mid day meal in schools. (v) Students motivated to help in producing the vegetables in kitchen gardens in some schools. (vi) Use of Double Fortified Salt with Iron and Iodine has been made mandatory in the schools. (vii) Kheer as Sweet Dish has been introduced in the schools on any day of a week along with the regular meals. (viii) Punjab Government has provided Rs.9.60 lakh for eating utensils. (ix) Training provided to Cook-Cum-Helpers through various Institutes. Workshop on food safety, Quality and personal hygiene for Cook-cum-helpers was held in District Mansa, Faridkot and Muktsar by NGO Akshaya Patra, New Delhi. Haryana

20. The Committee touched upon the issues with authorities of State Government of Haryana including various organizations, institutions, and stakeholders. It was briefed that in Haryana for SSA, an outlay of Rs.112058.25 lakh was approved for Annual Work Plan & Budget for Haryana for 2015-16. Out of this the State has been released Rs.26816.32 lakh as first instalment.

20.1 Appertaining to SSA, it was also familiarized that in Haryana there are 7% single teacher schools at primary level and 4% at upper primary level. There are as many as 38% primary and 19% upper primary schools with adverse Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR). According to figures of 2014-15, there are more than 9981 surplus teachers at primary and 2154 surplus teacher at upper primary. State needs to rationalize teacher posts. The enrolment in government schools at primary level has declined by 7% from previous year. Though the State claims that annual average drop rate is zero, analysis of Class-wise enrolment reveals that there is a decline of almost 30,000 children between grades, and State requires to identify these children. Net Enrolment Radio (NER) is more than 100 in Panchkula district which indicate inflated enrolment in the district. The Quality Improvement programme being implemented in the State is about getting children to attain basic competencies of the previous class through a short term remedial measures. State needs to have a systematic programme for early grades reading and math as per the guidelines of Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat. At the upper primary level the focus needs to be of improvement in learning of maths and science through a systematic intervention at the classroom level. Given that the State is focusing on quality improvement in 3000 schools that meet certain standards, it is a matter of concern that schools do not have adequate teachers. In Programme Approval Board (PAB) 2014- 15, Rs.100 lakh was sanctioned for third party evaluation of civil works. State has not conducted any third party evaluation. Given that the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) scheme is a targeted scheme for achieving goal of universalisation of girls education there is an urgent need to operationalise all the 11 KGBVs which are yet to be operationalised at the earliest.

21. So far the MDMS is concerned, the Committee was given to understand that in Haryana the approved outlay by the Progranne Approval Board – Mid-Day-Meal Scheme (PAB-MDM) for the year 2015-16 is Rs.20952.11 lakh (Central share). Challenges in implementation of MDMD in the State of Haryana are delineated as under:

(i) There is delay in release of funds (3-4 months) from State to District. (ii) There is less utilization of food grains (50%) and cooking cost (49%). (iii) There is less utilization of funds for honorarium to cook-cum-helpers. (iv) There is less utilization of transportation assistance (25%) and Management Monitoring Evaluation (MME) (9%). (v) Only 16% schools have been inspected till 3rd quarter. (vi) There is slow progress in procurement of kitchen devices. (vii) Kitchen-cum-stores not yet started in 2638 units (23%). (viii) Mismatch in data reported through Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B) and MDM- Management Information System (MIS).

21.1 Further, the Committee’s attention was drawn to the best practices being followed in the State for effective implementation of the scheme as:-

(i) There is provision of State Share of Rs.1750/- per month towards honorarium to Cook-cum-Helpers (CCH). (ii) All cook-cum-helpers are medically examined twice in a year. (iii) In the year 2014-15 Rs.70.00 lakh has been released to provide soaps for washing hands for Primary and Upper Primary schools. (iv) Cooks appointed by SHGs who are mostly the mothers of the children studying in that very school. (v) There is need to develop kitchen garden in schools by making use of available land in the schools. (vi) All schools in the State have been provided with Thali and Spoon. (vii) Monitoring cell at State level is available with dedicated telephone number and e- mail address. (viii) Advertisement on Radio regarding Mid-Day-Meal Scheme is being done.

Kerala

22. The Committee visited Thiruvananthapuram from 13th to 16th February, 2016 and held discussion with the authorities of Kerala State government including various organizations, institutions, and stakeholders on 16th February, 2016 on the implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Mid-day-Meal Scheme (MDMS).

23. Under SSA, in the beginning the Committee was informed of Kerala’s deeds and credentials . Capital city of the State is Thiruvananthapuram, which is also the part of the first district among the 14 districts in the State. Official language of the state is Malayalam and English. Kerala is the thirteenth largest state by population. Kerala has the lowest positive population growth rate in India, second highest literacy rate of 93.91% only after Thripura 96.8%. In 1991, as regards SSA, Kerala became the first State in India to be recognized as a completely literate state, though the effective literacy rate at that time was only 90%. As of 2007, the net enrolment in elementary education was almost 100% and was almost balanced among different sexes, social group and regions. In January 2016, Kerala became the first Indian state to achieve 1005 primary education through its literacy programmes ‘Athulyam’.

23.1 In the State of Kerala, the Schools by Management are figured out as:-

Table 12: Academi Tribal/Welfare Local All Aided Unaided Pvt. Total c Year Deptt. Body Govt. Unrecognized Schools

2015-16 53 1 4737 7222 3104 1968 17085

Table 13: Total Enrolment (I-VIII) Year General SC ST OBC Muslim Total

2015-16 929802 354979 73173 1288993 1365469 4012416

23.2 Referring to the infrastructure for Elementary Education it was told that there are 17085 schools in Kerala during 2015-16. Of the total number of 17085 educational institutions 4618schools are under Department of Education, 53 schools are under Tribal/Welfare Department, 19 schools are under local bodies, 7224 schools under aided management, 320 Multi Grade Learning Systems (MGLCs), 55 schools under Central Government and 2516 schools under unaided sector. This would imply the total access to elementary education of children in Kerala. Another note-worthy feature is that in certain wards there are more than one school. This situation is in thickly populated towns/cities. Besides, there are 867 CBSE Schools, 61 ICSE Schools, 36 Kendriya Vidyalayas and 14 Jawahar Navodaya Vidalayas. In addition there are 61 fisheries schools and tribal schools. There is a strong presence of 1750 unaided/unrecognized schools with 2.78 lakh enrolment at LP/UP levels.

23.3 The Committee was apprised of the various segments involving the SSA as:-

a. Free Text books

All children from standard II to VIII are eligible for getting free textbooks. Text books are of two volumes and prepared for two terms. During the previous year first volume of textbooks were distributed during June, 2014 and the second volume during October/November, 2015. Students of standard I are getting the textbooks from the government directly as that of the state policy. 65.72% of the outlay were expended and the remaining to be settled before 31st of March, 2016. b. Teacher’s Training

Quality of the school system depended upon the efforts and interference of the teachers as a group endeavors. The teachers’ capacity needs to be updated in accordance with the changing trends in the field of education. During 2015-16, teachers from all categories were trained as the textbooks were revised in the year. 65.82% of expenditure has been recorded as per the record of 31.12.2015.

c. Academic Support through BRC/URC

Block Recourse Centres (BRCs) and Urban Recourse Centres (URCs) are the block level agencies of SSA that extend support for implementing the various interventions. There are 4 BRC trainers as average strength in all the BRCs, though the sanctioned strength is 6 per BRC. The difference that may cause for excess expenditure in the salary cost restricted the number as 4 to cope with the allocated salary cost. Apart from the BRC trainers, the BRCs are equipped with Resource teachers and administrative staff like MIS coordinator, Data entry operator, Accountant and a class four employee. The expenditure incurred in this regard as on 31.12.2015 is 61.34 percent.

d. Academic Support through Cluster Resource Centres (CRC)

CRC is the grass root level organization in the SSA structure under a CRC coordinator. The CRC coordinators extend onsite support and academic monitoring with a view to achieve quality education. State of Kerala has 1385 of CRCs and 1190 of CRC coordinators in position. The expenditure in this regard is 48.56 percent.

e. Computer Aided Learning (CAL)

During 2015-16 each district was allocated an amount of Rs. 20 lakh for CAL which was expended accordingly by making the expenditure 100%.

f. Teacher’s Grant

Teaching Learning Material (TLM) grants for the preparation and development of supportive materials for classroom transaction @ Rs.500/- was granted to all teachers teaching in Std. I to V. The amount was utilized fully.

g. School Grant

Every LP section and UP section in the State is getting an amount of Rs.5000 and 7000 as school grant intended for supplementary learning facilities. The utilization of the funds is being monitored by the BRCs and periodical directions are issued for maintaining proper records of utilization. 99.29 per cent has been expended. h. School Maintenance Grant

Every Government school in the elementary sector is provided with maintenance grant for minor repairs in the school. Proper guidelines are usually been given to schools for utilizing the fund. 98.42% had been expended as on 31.12.2015.

i. Research and Evaluation

Every aspect of initiatives is viewed critically for getting the feedback for the corrections and remediation. Teachers are engaged with action researches; research institutions undertake achievement studies; monitoring agencies monitor the programmes at different levels; and evaluation tools were prepared. Evaluation tools and techniques are activated at different intervals through the R&E intervention. An amount of Rs.56.71 lakhs had been expended as on 31.12.2015.

j. Inclusive Education

As one of the major focus areas of RTE Act, the children with special need, is one of the most thrust areas of SSA. After detecting the disabilities through medical camps, the nature and extend of disabilities are identified and assistive aids, external support and home-based services are extended by the Resource teachers. As the distribution of assistive devices is an ongoing process, the expenditure will be completed during the end of the financial year. The expenditure in this regard as on 31.12.2015 was 55.70 percent.

k. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao is a project aiming the uplift and strengthening of girl children in the nation. To satisfy the educational need and to fight against social misbehaves to girls are the main objectives of this project. Building up of self confidence in their life is the ultimate aim by this Yojana. Enrolment and retention of girl children are not at all an issue in Kerala. SSA Kerala has undertaken several activities in this regard.

l. SC/ST Education

All the districts are now engaged with different types of activities to empower the life style and mental strength of children belonging to the SC/ST category. The expenditure would be completed by 31st of March, 2016. The percentage of achievement is 8.50 per cent as on 31.12.2015. Camps and workshops in this intervention is usually happening after the mid-term examinations. The expenditure in this regard would be 100% after February. Hence a low percentage of expenditure in SC/ST education has been marked here.

m. Community Training

Local Self Government (LSG), SMC members and community leaders are given training on RTE Act. The expenditure in this regard is 46.86%. n. Learning Enhancement Programme (LEP)

Several measures have been undertaken for the strengthening of teacher capacity and there by quality in teachers. Activities to motivate and progressive devices for enhancing the level of achievement of teachers in languages, science and mathematics as suggested by the PAB 2015 have been initiated. The percentage of expenditure is 8.62.

o. Community Mobilization

To sensitize the parents, for getting positive attitudes towards school functioning support learners and to become part of school development, all districts have conducted the community mobilization programme. The percentage of expenditure is 49.05%.

p. Clean School SMART Children (Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat)

Clean School Smart Children is a programme launched by SSA Kerala under Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat Programme of MHRD. Major objective of the programme is to make the children aware of the necessity of cleanliness and to ensure achievement of desired learning outcomes to all children.

24. Mid-Day-Meal Programme

Interpolating Mid-Day-Meal-Programme, it was briefed that MDMS was first introduced in the state of Kerala in 1984 in the LP Schools functioning in 222 Villages, having Fishermen as majority community. During 1985 the scheme was extended to all LP Schools (Std. I to IV). The scheme was extended to Upper Primary Schools (Std. V to VII) during 1987-88. The scheme was further extended to the students of Std. VIII during 2007-08. The scheme consists of supplying cooked food to the children using rice, pulses, vegetables, egg, milk and coconut oil/palmolien.

24.1 State level Management, Monitoring & Evaluation of the scheme is done by the State level Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee with Secretary to Government (General Education) as the Chairman and the Director of Public Instruction as the Member Secretary and Convener. The Director of Public Instruction is the Nodal Officer of the MDM Scheme in Kerala.

24.2 District level Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee is headed by the District Collector and Deputy Director Education as Secretary. At block level, Block Panchayat President is the Chairman and the Assistant Educational Officer is the Secretary. For effective implementation of the Programme in schools, a school level committee is constituted with PTA President as Chairman and the Headmaster of the school as the Member Secretary. There is a Noon Feeding Supervisor in each District who visits the schools and examines the food served and verifies the stock and other records. The Assistant Educational Officer, District Educational Officer and Director of Education also periodically visit the schools and monitor the MDM Scheme. Vehicle is provided to all Deputy Directors for Education for their school visits.

24.3 Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation is the nodal agency for lifting the food grains from FCI and supplying to the implementing agencies through their various outlets (Maveli stores). Headmaster is in charge of procuring food materials (rice) from the outlets of Civil Supplies Corporation. Condiments, vegetables, oil, fuel etc. are procured locally by the school Noon feeding committee. Deputy Director of Education is designated as the Nodal Officer for making payment of the cost of rice to the FCI. Cost of rice will be placed at the disposal of the Deputy Director Education in two installments for making payment to FCI promptly. First installment of cooking cost will be released from the department to the Schools Bank Account maintained by the Headmaster in advance for every six months directly through E-transfer.

24.4 The meal is cooked in the school premises (in Kitchen shed). Members of PTA and mother PTA are actively participating in cooking and serving of food. The presence of members of PTA ensures the quality of food. Teachers taste the food and supervise the serving of food.

24.5 The Committee was also informed that the highlights of the Scheme implemented in Kerala are as:-

q. State Contribute Rs.2.68/- per child per day against the refined mandatory State share of Rs.1.54/-. r. Egg and Banana served once in a week. s. Milk is served twice in a week. t. E-Transfer of fund to HM Account Directly. u. 6 months cooking cost and remuneration of cook-cum-helpers; e-transfer to schools during last week of May, followed by three month e-transfer during 1st week of October and next year’s March. v. Minimum Wages of Rs.350/- paid to Cook-cum-Helper per day. w. Noon Meal Committee procures condiments, Oils, Salt for use under Mid-Day-Meal- Scheme. x. 5 kg. of Rice is given to students under MDM Scheme in Onam Festival. y. Noon Mean Supervisors at Districts and Noon Meal Officers at Block Levels audit the MDM Accounts of the schools. z. Suggestion/complaint box placed in schools.

24.6 Other vital issues concerning the MDMS were also brought to the notice of the Committee and are given under:-

(i) Reviews monitoring by agencies designated by Central Government and State Government revealed some deficiencies and gaps like non- availability of Drinking Water in summer season, , Lack of Dining halls, Fire Extinguisher, Pollution due to firewood use as a fuel and insufficiency of the cooking cost.

(ii) The Government have noted the Reviews on monitoring report and have taken decision in-principle to migrate from firewood based cooking to LPG based cooking and to enhance the allotment of cooking cost from Rs.5/- to Rs.8/- and separate provision for wages to the cook-cum-helpers. (iii) Provision made for drinking water with the help of Local Bodies and also use of Aluminum bins for storage of food grains and the cleaning of the kitchen premises, including waste management with the help of local bodies and the PTA. Action is under way for introducing a Toll Free Number and Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS).

Rajasthan

25. The Committee visited Udaipur from 13th to 20 Feb, 2016 and held discussion with authorities of State Govt. of Rajasthan including various organizations, institutions, and stakeholders on implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSSA) and Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS). 26. SSA was launched in 2001-02 in the State of Rajasthan for creating quality of education for all. Pertaining to main achievement in School Education, the Committee was informed that the scheme SAMBLAN has been launched enhancing the quality of education by sensitizing authorities related to education department of the State and school management. Germane to this, extensive evaluation of quality in teaching is done by spending whole day time in school itself by authorities of education department. Under this the planning for positive improvement of the level of education is formulated.

26.1 The Committee was informed that of the Main features of SSA in the State as under: (i) Programme with a clear time frame for universal elementary education. (ii) A response to the demand for quality basic education for all. (iii) An opportunity for promoting social justice through basic education. (iv) An expression of political will for universal elementary education across the Country. (v) A partnership between the Central, State and the local government. (vi) An opportunity for State to develop their own vision of elementary education. (vii) An effort at effective involving of the Panchyati Raj Institutions, school management committees, village and urban slum level Education Committees, Parents Teachers Associations, Mother-Teacher Associations, Tribal Autonomous councils and other grassroots level structures in the management of elementary schools. 26.2 It was further enlightened that Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat is a nationwide sub-programme of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Children who fail to read in early education lag behind in other subjects. The programme is designed to improve comprehensive early reading, writing and early mathematics programme for children in Classes I and II. The programme will not only provide print rich environment, timely distribution of books but will also include new teacher mentoring and appraisal system. SSA has been operational to provide for a variety of interventions for universal access and retention, bridging of gender and social category gaps in elementary education and improving the quality of learning. SSA interventions include inter alia, opening of new schools and alternate schooling facilities, construction of schools and additional classrooms, toilets and drinking water, provisioning for teachers, regular teacher in service training and academic resource support, free textbooks & uniforms and support or improving learning achievement levels/outcome. With the passage of the RTE Act, changes have been incorporated into the SSA approach, strategies and norms. The changes encompass the vision and approach to elementary education, guided by the principles to have a holistic view of education, as interpreted in the National Curriculum Framework 2005, with implications for a systemic revamp of the entire content and process of education with significant implications for curriculum, teacher education, educational planning and management. 27. Referring to Mid-Day-Meal scheme, it was sketched out that the Mid-day-meal scheme was initiated as a centrally sponsored scheme on 15th May, 1995 in the whole country. Thereafter, in 2004 major changes were brought out in MDMS by making arrangement for providing hot cooked meals to students. Every child within the age group of 6-14 years studying the classes I to VIII who enroll and attend the school, shall be provided meal having nutritional standards as specified in schedule II of the Act, free of charge every day except on school holidays. The meals have to be served to children at school only.

27.1 The meal shall be prepared in accordance with the Mid-day-meal guidelines issued by the Central Government from time to time and in accordance with the provisions of schedule II of the Act. Presently in Rajasthan, 73,199 units are operational concerning the provisions of MDMS in schools. The class level data along with number of students involved can be depicted as:- Table 13: School Level No. of Students

Classes: 1-5 41.49 lakh Classes: 6-8 21.01lakh Total 62.50 lakh

27.2 As regards cooking agencies, the Committee came to know that their details are as follows:- Table 14: S.No Cooking Agency No. of No. of . schools students (in lakhs) (i) SMC (School Management Committee) 68729 58.58 (ii) Centralised Kitchen 2623 2.22 (iii) Annapurna Mahila Sahkari Samiti 1847 1.70 Total 73199 62.50

27.3 The Committee was further informed that in attempt to usher transparency and remove corruption from the Mid-day-meal distribution, the initiatives are being taken for SMS-based system through which meal data would be sent everyday by schools to a toll-free number that would be in return monitored at the State level. The extant procedure is for reporting per day mid- day-meal data on the monthly basis to the Distt. Unit of education department.

Observations/Recommendations

28. On the basis of deliberations with various stakeholders in the field of elementary education at places of visit described in proceeding paragraphs, the Committee notes that Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) was launched in 2000-01. However, the precursor of this programme was District Primary Education Programme (DPEP), launched way back in 1993-94 with an aim of achieving the objective of universal primary education. There is no denying the fact that for both DPEP and SSA, the major thrust is to ensure universal enrolment in elementary schools and remove social and gender gaps in schooling. Back in reckoning, the 2% education cess was set rolling in 2004 and, in fact, there was no opposition whatsoever for imposition of this levy. The Committee appreciates the endeavor made by the Government towards the universal enrolment goal for schools in India, which has led to the fact that almost all children are enrolled in school today. The Committee, on the other hand, is intrigued to note that while the enrolment picture continues to improve; on the learning front, the story is far from satisfactory. In Arithmetic, only a little over half of all children involved in Standard V could do a 2 digit subtraction problem with borrowing.

28.1 The Committee, therefore, emphatically recommends that Central Government should undertake all initiatives for the States and focus on ensuring that children are learning well and the States should also resort to their own measures in a time bound sustainable manner to understand what is the level of students in terms of learning, and the means to determine improvement in basic learning. The Committee also recommends that the need of the hour is to shift the policy and practice from input-based expenditure to outcome-focused achievement for implementation of SSA.

29. The Committee further notes that one of the prime challenges is to get much more effective utilization of the resources that are spent on elementary education which is the backbone of SSA. Effective spending implies that the expenditure is incurred on progress towards goals, especially in terms of improving learning outcomes of children in elementary schools.

29.1 The Committee recommends that the Government of India should set the achievable goals and all elements of education system viz., teachers’ training, on-sight support, materials and measurement, etc., have to be aligned to help schools and resultantly teachers help children learn better. Plans can be reviewed and adjusted on year-to-year basis but the sustainable efforts have to be made for expanding the outreach in the field of elementary education.

30. The Committee, after having an in-depth analysis in the subject matter takes note of the educational development in India, which is neither homogenous in regional spread nor neutral to social formations. It has a strong bias in favour of economically developed areas with strong infrastructural support as compared to the backward regions of the country. It is disheartening indeed that in spite of planned efforts, of course, of Planning Commission/NITI AYOG, regional disparities in the field of quality based educational development continue to be glaring. Germane to this, for the ongoing SSA mission, the Committee considers decentralization as a major strategy for planning and management of elementary education. The decentralization, within the national framework of SSA sounds paradoxical as every region of the country counts on the diversity of culture, language, etc.

30.1 The Committee recommends that government of India should bring out time bound programmes to minimize the gap wherever States are standing differently in their educational status. This is the proven pathway through which the SSA’s time frame of universalisation of elementary Education in true sense, and not for name sake, be realized. The Committee also recommends that this is the prime duty of the government of India not to obviate from the endeavor that if the SSA is an opportunity for States to develop their own vision of elementary education, as the basic framework of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’s claims, the States have to fit themselves with the broader notional goal of providing useful and relevant elementary education for all in the category of 6-14 years age group.

31. The Committee recommends to bolster the national role at local level concerning the success of implementation of SSA by ensuring proper coordination and synchronization of efforts made by the Ministry of HRD, National Council of Educational Research & Training (NCERT), National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), and National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE)

32. (a) As regards the key challenges faced in the implementation of SSA at States level, the Committee expresses its concern for the absence of State Institutes of Educational Management and Trainings (SIEMATs), which hampers the scholastic understanding of the State – specific issues and innovations. Hence, the goal of achieving the Universal Elementary Education would become a distant dream if every State is standing differently.

(b) In this perspective, the Committee recommends that discrepancies between the National and State systems have to be removed, like the entry norm of 6 years of age is prevalent in some States and 5 years in others and, in all likelihood, would be giving a jolt to noble aims of the SSA.

32.1 (a) Referring to other key challenges at the district and sub-district level, the Committee would focus on the status of DIETs (District Institute of Education and Training). The Committee also expresses its concern that there exists wide variations in the nature and effectiveness of these institutes among the States in which they have been set up. In each of these States, the DIETs have developed in different ways and, therefore, vary in terms of infrastructure, expertise and activities. Further, the Committee is of the opinion that Block Resource Centres (BRCs) and Cluster Resource Centres (CRCs) are not found competent enough to impart sufficient training, while the DIETs are not involved in the District Elementary Education Planning in many States. Besides, there is a lack of coordination between different agencies and officers. The role and the functioning of the SIEMAT, for instance, are unclear.

(b) So the Committee recommends the Department to address these types of confusion prevailing at the District Level concerning the implementation of SSA by revamping the institutions like the SIEMATS and DIETs.

33. The Committee would like to share its concern for the number of colossal vacancy of teachers remaining unfilled up under SSA. The Committee is of the firm opinion that such a huge existing vacancies of teachers under SSA is bound to affect adversely the implementation of SSA. For example, as per the data made available to the Committee by the Ministry vide the status note on the SSA dated 8th June, 2016, in the number of sanctioned post of teachers under SSA is 69522 by State, and 122678 under SSA; the working position is of 34052 by State and 78554 under SSA, and consequently the existing number of vacancies of teachers is of 35470 by State and 44124 under SSA. There is need to overcome the typical disarray that in some States, teachers recruited against SSA sanctioned posts, are recruited on contract and after a period of 5-6 years these teachers are shifted to the State against the vacancy in the States sanctioned post, however, the vacancy created under SSA remains as a sanctioned post and the State can go and recruit fresh teachers against these vacancies.

33.1 The Committee, therefore recommends that such daunting task of filling up the arising vacancies of teachers in States has to be carried out in a sustainable time bound planning.

34. The Department of School Education and Literacy in its background note has apprised the Committee of the new initiatives taken up by Department in the field of elementary education under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) for improving the quality of education. The Committee admires these initiatives, like Swachha Vidyalaya, Padhe Bharat Badhe Bharat (PBBB), Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA), Shaala - Siddhi, School Leadership Development Programme, , Twinning programme (Partnership Between Schools) and E- Pathshala. The Committee wishes the Department to excel in the field of all these eight initiatives and expect to get the details of concrete measurable achievements made therein so far, from the department so that a review can be made for the success rate, including constraints, if any, and overall responses. Besides, by interactions with various stakeholders in the field of elementary education, the Committee during its visit to select places, was impressed for setting up of Smart Classes in Govt. schools, which would augment the quality of teaching–learning process of education for students.

34.1 The Committee, therefore, recommends to initiate the pilot project of establishing the Smart Classes in Govt. schools, in fact, through which teaching–learning process would be effective using computer enabled techniques, wherein teaching by the use of multi-media projector is executed and Smart Boards are used, which have more visualization of lessons for students. A comprehensive viable target should be set for successful functioning of Smart- Classes in Govt. schools and a status note be provided to the Committee. 35. The Committee notes the increased devolution of funds from 32% to 42% through 14th Finance Commission Award, effective from 2015-16. The Committee shows its concern that States have not reported earmarking funds exclusively for education out of the increased devolution of funds. 35.1 The Committee, therefore, recommends for inspiring States for the proportionate adjustment of increased devolution of funds on education. 36. An overview of MDMS presented the genesis of this scheme and the Committee finds that Mid-Day Meal in schools has had a long history in India. In 1925, a Mid-Day Meal Programme was introduced for disadvantaged children in Madras Municipal Corporation. By the mid 1980s, three States viz. , Kerala and Tamil-Nadu and the UT of Pondicherry had universalized a cooked Mid-Day Meal Programme with their own resources for children studying at the primary stage. By 1990-91, the number of States implementing the Mid-Day Meal Programme with their own resources on a universal or a large scale basis had gone up to twelve States. Considering the aspect of enhancing enrollment, retention and attendance and simultaneously with a view to improve the nutritional level among the children, the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE) was launched as a Centrally sponsored scheme on 15th August, 1995, initially in 2408 blocks in the Country. By the year 1997-98, the NP-NPSE was introduced in all blocks of the country. On the directives of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, cooked Mid-Day Meal Programme was undertaken by the State Governments after November, 2001. Cooked Mid-Day Meal is reported to have created a platform for children of all social and economic backgrounds to take meals together, thereby facilitating achieving the objective of social equality. Nonetheless, the Committee has gathered that, typically the MDMS has been resulting in the diversion of the attention of teachers and students on activities related to it, rather than towards teaching and learning activities, resulting in loss of studies also. 36.1 The Committee recommends that this aspect should be looked into and necessary initiatives by expedient means be taken in the prevalent situation to overcome such drawback in MDMS. 37. The Committee notes that the Government’s multi-faceted approach for MDMS, has undoubtedly shown tremendous results. Be that as it may, the Committee understands that, in general, visible shortage of basic infrastructural facilities and also the manpower, are crucial for the accomplishment of the cooked Mid-Day Meal Programme. 37.1 The Committee , therefore, recommends to initiate measures to strengthen these factors in right earnest and unfailing commitment; for example, lack of pucca buildings, separate toilet facilities for boys & girls, unavailability and poor functional condition of kitchen sheds, unavailability and poor functional condition of Store Rooms, Poor availability of tumblers and plates, shortage of access to proper drinking water, shortage of cooks, etc. Further, there should be timely payment to Cooks-cum-Helpers. 38. The Committee expresses its concern that most of the States did not follow the guidelines of Government of India to deliver food grains at the school point by PDS dealer, thereby resulting in the leakage of food grains. There have been instances where due to long supply chain, food grains supplied got adulterated and pilfered. 38.1 The Committee recommends that this facet of MDMS should be reviewed and points of failure be identified to intensify Mid-Day Meal Scheme in right direction. 39. The Committee also notes that the cost of construction of kitchen-cum-store is determined on the basis of plinth area norms and state schedule of rates prevalent in the State/UT on sharing basis. The Department of School Education and Literacy has prescribed 20 sq. mt. plinth area for construction of Kitchen-cum-store in schools having upto 100 children. For every addition of upto 100 children, additional 4 sq. mt. plinth area will be added. States/UTs have the flexibility to modify the slab of 100 children depending upon the local conditions. As on March, 2016, 10.5 lakh kitchen-cum-stores have been sanctioned till date. So far a total number of 7.82 lakh kitchen-cum-stores have been constructed and construction work is in progress for 1.08 lakh. 39.1 The Committee recommends that requisite initiatives would be taken to get the construction work started for remaining 1.15 lakh kitchen-cum-stores expeditiously. 40. The Committee observes that while Mid-Day Meal scheme seems to have contributed to an increase in the attendance in Schools across the country, it does not seem to have any significant impact on fresh enrolments in sample schools.

40.1 This particular scenario, the Committee recommends, requires to be considered by the Government and requisite measures be taken.

41. The Committee further recommends that for intensification of MDMS, it should be incumbent on the nodal Ministry to review the infrastructure development meant for MDMS in the meetings of Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee (SMC) and representatives of other nodal Ministries which run the infrastructure development schemes of MDMS should be invited to these meetings.

42. The Committee strongly recommends that it is to be ensured that meetings of School Development and Management Committee has participation of one member each of Block Level Committee, Parent Teacher Association and Panchyati Raj Institutions (PRIS).

43. The Committee would like to recommend the Government that District nodal authority becomes strict in getting utilization certificates from the implementing authority and school, in time, so that delivery of funds/foodgrains are not delayed.

44. The Committee takes note of the suggestions of stakeholders with whom it got an opportunity to interact at selected places of visit and recommends that local women self help groups or mothers of children studying in the schools get preference in preparation of meal in MDMS. This would not only ensure a means of employment and income for the SHGs, but also they would cook as per the locally prevalent tastes.

45. The Committee also came to know that wages for MDM differ from state to state; the Committee therefore, recommends that the Government should strive to ensure that there has to be uniformity in this regard and minimum wages as per norms of the Govt. should be paid to the workers/cooks involved in MDMS.

46. The Committee appreciates the endeavor made by PPP mode in MDMS, which has been successful in and recommends to enhance its outreach to get it implemented in other States as well so as to ensure a better delivery of service and, therefore, a better performance of MDMS.

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