SSC
The Mid-day Meal Scheme for school children was first introduced on a large scale by which state?
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Answer: Option C — Tamil Nadu
Detailed Solution
Tamil Nadu is credited with being the first state to introduce a mid-day meal programme for schoolchildren on a large scale.
History of the mid-day meal in Tamil Nadu:
In 1925, the Madras Municipal Corporation started a mid-day meal programme for poor children in some of its schools.
In 1956, the Chief Minister of Madras State, K. Kamaraj, introduced free meals for children in government schools on a wide scale, to encourage poor children to attend school. The scheme was extended across the state in the following years.
In 1982, Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran (MGR) launched the "Chief Minister's Nutritious Noon Meal Programme", which expanded the scheme to cover many more children, including those in anganwadis (pre-school centres).
In 2022, Tamil Nadu introduced the "Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme" for primary school children in government schools.
National Mid-day Meal Scheme:
The Government of India launched the "National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education" (NP-NSPE) on 15 August 1995.
In 2001, in the case "People's Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India", the Supreme Court directed all states to provide cooked mid-day meals in government and government-aided primary schools.
In September 2021, it was renamed "PM POSHAN" (Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman).
It now covers children in classes 1 to 8 in government and government-aided schools, and is to include pre-primary classes.
It is one of the largest school feeding programmes in the world.
It aims to:
- Increase enrolment and attendance in schools.
- Improve the nutrition of children.
- Reduce classroom hunger.
- Promote social equality, as children of all castes and religions eat together.
- The National Food Security Act, 2013 also gives children a legal right to mid-day meals.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Kerala also ran early school feeding programmes, but Tamil Nadu is credited with the first large-scale scheme.
- ✗Gujarat introduced a mid-day meal programme in 1984.
- ✗Karnataka runs the scheme, but it was not the first.
Quick tip
Remember: Mid-day Meal first introduced on a large scale = Tamil Nadu (K. Kamaraj, 1956; MGR's Nutritious Noon Meal, 1982); national scheme = 15 August 1995; renamed PM POSHAN in 2021.
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Government Schemes — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Government Schemes, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the major welfare and development schemes of the Government of India, such as those for financial inclusion, health, housing, agriculture, skill development and women and child welfare, along with their launch year, objectives and ministries. Questions usually ask what a scheme aims to do, when it was launched, or which ministry runs it. For example, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (2014) aims at financial inclusion through bank accounts. Schemes are often renamed, merged or extended, so pair these static facts with the latest updates before banking and government exams. Practise the government schemes questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.