Taunted school kids skip free meal, eat at Unavagam
Over 30 students of Corporation Higher Secondary School in Selaiyur, Tambaram, have been eating lunch at Amma Unavagam regularly, as they have been humiliated by the cook at the school for eating free food and not bringing plates
Students from the Corporation school in Selaiyur have lunch at a nearby Amma Unavagam
CHENNAI: While the State government is proud of its mid-day meal scheme and in providing cooked lunches to school students, there are some incidents that mangle the image of this initiative.
Recently, 30 students at Corporation Higher Secondary School in Selaiyur of Tambaram were seen having lunch at Amma Unavagam, by skipping the mid-day meal provided by the government.
Sources also say that this incident has been happening for several years. Students said they eat lunch at the Unavagam as they were humiliated by mid-day meal workers for eating free food.
Though lunch under the scheme is provided for students, it’s common to see Selaiyur corporation school students move with the crowds at an Unavagam for lunch. Speaking to DT NEXT, a Class 9 student said, “We began preferring the Unavagam or even home-cooked food after facing humiliation from the mid-day meal workers at the school. While we were eating food at school a worker asked us why we couldn’t take the trouble of bringing plates.”
Another student at the Unavagam concurred, and added, “If we are seen having our lunch at the Unavagam or eating a home-cooked lunch, a mid-day meal worker will strike out our names from the beneficiary list.”
To this, the mid-day meal worker responded, “We’ve been providing the food as per students’ needs. We have not received complaints on taste or quality.”
To the questions of students who avoided eating at school, he added, “Some students prefer food from Amma Unavagam and homemade foods. That’s up to them. We’ll provide the food to every student in the list.” The worker denied the allegation made by the students about removing their names from the list.
Subsequently, a teacher at the school said that the issue of humiliation was addressed. “There are nearly 300 students benefiting through the scheme. Some may like the food, and some do not. It’s their personal choice of having food from home or Unavagam. We don’t remove anybody’s name from the list, as this scheme was provided by the government.”
A midday meal official at Chengalpattu Collectorate assured that a report will be sought from the St Thomas Mount Block Development Officer (BDO).
