PANAJI
When contacted, Fr Fernandes told The Goan that attempts to promote social integration, as envisaged by the Supreme Court, and to have a decentralised model to provide local cuisine and jobs in the area would also be defeated with a centralised system provided by Akshaya Patra.
"I am shocked to learn of moves by the government to handover on pilot basis the preparation of mid-day meals to Akshaya Patra, an affiliate whose parent organisation is International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)," said Fr Fernandes.
"The government's attempt to engage Akshaya Patra, even on a pilot basis, is a regressive step, having no elements of social integration and by centralising the operations, it destroys the very foundation of the scheme," he added.
Fr Fernandes, who has been closely monitoring the mid-day meal scheme since its inception, recalled that in April 2001, the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) had initiated a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court, which popularly came to
be known as the "right to food" case.
"The PUCL argued that excess food stocks with Food Corporation of India should be fed to hungry citizens. This included providing mid-day meals in primary schools. Thus, the scheme came into force with the Supreme Court order dated November 28, 2001, which required all government and government-assisted primary schools to provide cooked mid-day meals," recalled Fr Fernandes.
He said companies with vested interests quickly tried to takeover the mid-day meal scheme.
"I recall that there was a mad rush by biscuit companies to replace mid-day meals with provision of biscuits, as it was argued that children would not consume cooked meals," he said.
"To curtail any watering down of the scheme, the Supreme Court at that time passed interim orders to protect the sanctity of the scheme in the best interests of the children, stating "every child in every government and government assisted primary schools with a prepared mid-day meal with a minimum content of 300 calories and 8-12 grams of protein each day of school for a minimum of 200 days."
Fr Fernandes also highlighted the importance of social integration as another significant dimension of the mid-day meal scheme.
"In this regard, the Supreme Court ordered that "in appointment of cooks and helpers, preference shall be given to Dalits, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes". The scheme was consciously conceived to keep away companies/multinationals in preparing the meals so that local initiatives could be promoted and sustained," said
Fr Fernandes.
He added that Akshaya Patra's plans would not include a decentralised model, "which had the advantage of being able to serve local cuisine, providing jobs in the area, minimising waste and allowed for better monitoring, besides being able to complain locally."
