Include all pre-primary school children in the noon-meal programme

The state child rights commission has directed the government to ensure that students in all primary sections attached to government and aided schools are included in the noon meal programme. The Commission stated that denying children the benefit of the noon meal scheme because they belong to ‘unrecognized’ pre-primary sections is a violation of national and international child rights rules. According to the Commission, the children should be enrolled in nearby Anganwadis or included in the school noon meal scheme to ensure proper nutrition. Reni Antony, a member of the Commission, issued the directive while hearing petitions from parents of various schools in the Kollam district seeking inclusion of children in pre-primary sections in the noon meal scheme. Within two months, the child rights panel requested that the Director and Secretary of the General Education Department report on the steps taken in response to the Commission’s directives. The Commission noted in the order that the Integrated Child Development Scheme and the Noon Meal Scheme have both been brought under the purview of the National Food Security Act of 2013. The child rights panel emphasized that the Act requires Anganwadis to provide nutrition to children under the age of six.