If you thought “well begun is half done", then, think again.
Going by the current rate of incidents, the old quote no longer holds good.
The mid day meal scheme which started out as a strong policy to provide healthy food and draw more children into the school has lost its way over the years.
Most of the children belonging to the struggling families of the society prefer work over education.Their justification being, that a child going to work brought more money to the family enabling them to meet their food demands.
Their justification is fair in their own way. For people who struggle for one square meal a day, education is never a preferred choice.
Started with a good intention, the mid day meal scheme ensured good food for all the students attending school.
If not an appropriate means to sow the roots of education and its importance, this scheme ,at least saw more children from the lesser fortunate people making their way into school.
It was a win win situation for the people and the policy makers.
But over the years, what once began as a goodwill scheme is now lost in its implementation. The recent revelation about the poor quality and unhygienic means of preparing the mid day meal has sent shock waves across the country.
It is appalling to see the level of carelessness meted out @ every level. It is not enough to just provide food.Good , healthy, nutritious food has to be provided.
It does put us to shame when one of the longest policies of our country is being taken with such little regard.
We need to ensure appropriate end to end implementation of every policy. A minimum level of basic hygiene and standard has to be maintained. We need to guarantee a basic level of consistency.
The world is facing severe food scarcity. There are over 1000’s of people dying every year due to acute food shortage. Hence it is highly unfair to waste food @ any level.
It is not only about implementing the policy accurately, @ a grass root level every person should be conscious about wasting food. Food simply cannot be wasted. Right amounts of food must be cooked, food stocked in the store rooms and refrigerators should be preserved properly, excess of food should not be binned, a moral feeling of giving it away to the needy or creative methods of re using the dish has to be practiced in every household.
"Food, shelter, clothing..".. goes the list of basic requirements of mankind, Food being the top of the chart, each and every one of us should go any length to ensure a future abundant in food.
Cheers,
sandy :)
sandy :)
PS : " A picture is worth a thousand words", so,before you throw away your last piece of food , or before you plate your food with more than what you can eat and mindlessly throw away the excess , please remember the following images.
