Inflation has hit India’s mid-day meal scheme, and the lunch boxes of 120 million school kids are looking lighter than ever! 😕 With prices for essentials like veggies 🥕, pulses 🌱, and oil 🛢️ shooting through the roof, school lunches are now resembling something closer to a bland mystery soup. 🤷♂️
🍛 When Dal Becomes… Yellow Water?
Meet 8-year-old Ranjit Nayak. His school lunch, which was once his most nutritious meal of the day, has taken a hit. His mom, Arati, sadly says, “Some days it’s just yellow water with hardly any dal.“ 🌊😬 Oof, that’s not the hearty meal we’re used to, is it?
🛒 Inflation’s Grocery Woes:
India’s food inflation has been hovering at 6.3% for the past few years 📈, but the mid-day meal budget? Still living in 2022! 😑 With no increase in funding, schools are stuck playing a risky game of budget gymnastics to stretch those same old funds – goodbye spinach, hello pumpkin 🎃!
💸 Budget Crunch = Watered-Down Milk:
One teacher spilt the tea (or should we say the milk?) ☕: the milk served at schools now looks more like “white water.” 💧🍼 The delay in increasing the mid-day meal budget, due to upcoming elections, is forcing schools to cut corners, leaving kids without the proper nutrition they need. 😓
🥗 Veggies Are Now Pumpkin Dreams:
Fruits have been missing for six months, and veggies? Replaced with cheaper alternatives like, you guessed it, more pumpkin 🎃. The meals are supposed to pack 450 calories for younger kids and 700 calories for older students, but those calorie counts are becoming more like a wish list at this point. 😅
India’s kids deserve better! With inflation squeezing every penny, the mid-day meal program is in desperate need of a revamp. Let’s hope the budget gets a boost soon — because watered-down dal and skimpy milk just don’t cut it. 🌊👎
#IndiaMidDayMeal #InflationWoes #HealthyMeals #NutritionMatters #SchoolLunchCrisis