Says research paper by IIM-A professors about FICCI’s suggestion to introduce food stamps.
History says that the concept of supplementary nutritional support through educational institutions took its root in India when Madras Corporation developed a school lunch programme in 1925. However, Gujarat was the first state to start the school lunch programme, in 1984, says a research paper presented by professors at IIMA.
Over time, the original purpose of starting the school lunch — now known as Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDM) — is lost as research by the IIMA has revealed. Food served in the MDM at AMC is low in nutrients and unhygienic, suggests the research.
The researchers and professors at IIMA — Satish Deodhar, Sweta Mahandiratta, KV Ramani and Dileep Mavalankar — have identified in their paper the pros and cons of FICCI's suggestion to introduce food stamps in India. Food stamps are a very popular system in the US.
Researchers, however, doubt the food stamp's success in India, citing possibilities like the selling of food stamps in grey market or lack of guarantee that the stamps will be used to buy nutritious food for kids.
Under the food stamps scheme, such stamps are distributed to households of eligible children, who can exchange it for food items in grocery shops. In the US, for example, a four-member household which has a gross annual income of $26,000 or less or net annual income of $20,000 or less is eligible for about $500 worth of food stamps per month.
The paper says in the discussion, 'Alternate to MDM scheme', "Food stamp programme may not have the desired impact although it may be administratively easier to implement. In fact, it will have adverse impact on the ultimate objectives for which MDM was to be implemented."
It further says that the likely impact of the food stamps programme will certainly be replicated if government or NGOs were to give direct income support to the targeted households.
The paper also states that there is no guarantee that households will spend the food stamps to buy nutritious food for kids, as there is always the possibility that the stamps may be sold in the grey market for additional income.
"Long term solution is to have an activity to educate disadvantaged households about importance of healthy growth of kids," suggests the paper.
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