history of mid day meal in india

One of the pioneers of the mid day meal scheme is themadras Presidency that started providing cooked meals to children in corporation schools in the Madras city in 1923

Dr. C.P. RAMASWAMI AIYAR under sri chithira thirunal maharajah of travancore
1879 - 1966 dewan of kerala

First to introduce free mid-day meal scheme for poor children. He inaugurated the Vanchi Poor Fund and Seetha Lakshmi Ammal Anna Dhana Samajam .1940 in trivandrum city

and sri chitra poor home in 1934 in trivandrum city for eradiction of beggars in trivandrum

Tamil Nadu:-

The programme was introduced in a large scale in 1960s under the Chief Ministership of kamaraj. However, the first major thrust came in 1982when the then Chief Minister of tamilnadu, Dr. M. G. Ramachandran, decided to universalise the scheme for all children in government schools in primary classes. Later the programme was expanded to cover all children up to class 10. Tamil Nadu’s mid-day meal programme is among the best known in the country.

Although the programme in Tamil Nadu was initially termed as an act of "populism", the success of the scheme made the project hugely popular. The success was so spectacular that in 1995, the then Indian Finance minister manmohansingh hailed the success of the project and suggested that the scheme be implemented all over the country, and thus began the "National Programme for Nutrition Support to Primary Education".

In April the Supreme Court directed the government to fully implement its scheme of providing cooked meals to all children in primary schools. This landmark direction converted the mid-day meal scheme into a legal entitlement, the violation of which can be taken up in the court of law.