Explainer: What are School Nutrition (Kitchen) Gardens being proposed by the Government?

mandating schools to set up a School Nutrition (Kitchen) Garden. Here is an

explainer on what this initiative is all about, what does it try to achieve

etc. The Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS), is a flag ship scheme of Government of India’s Ministry of HumanResource Development (MHRD) which aims at not only increasing the schoolattendance but more importantly improve the nutritional levels among thechildren. Since its inception as a centrally sponsored scheme in 1995, therewere multiple changes and additions made to improve on the effectiveness of thescheme. One suchinitiative, which was implemented in a few states is the concept of ‘SchoolNutrition (Kitchen) Gardens’. The idea behind this is for the schools tomaintain a garden and grow plants that would supplement the nutritionalrequirement of the food being served as part of MDMS. The MHRD hasreleased a set of guidelines recently withrespect to School Nutrition Gardens. The Ministry has further released additional set of guidelines on 15 October2019 to assist schools in States/UTs in setting up theseNutrition Kitchen Gardens. In thisexplainer story, we look into how MHRD plans to utilize the concept ofNutrition Gardens in schools to achieve multiple purposes, and the plans to ensurelarger community participation. School Nutrition Gardens to have multiple purposes The initialidea of School Nutrition Gardens (SNG) was to be an integral part of providingnutrition to children by supplementing freshly grown vegetables to be served inMid-day meals. MHRD, has conceptualized to build upon this and expand the scopeof SNGs. The guidelines document released by MHRD,highlights three objectives for developing these nutrition gardens in the schools. Hence, apartfrom being a source of nutrition, this initiative is envisioned to be aplatform to aid children’s learning. The scope of learning is multi-fold. Froma practical perspective, the child can develop gardening skills and otherskills associated with the activity. This alsocreates a scope to engage in discussion and learning about the following. The guidelinesdocument enlists various benefits (practical & educational) of having School nutrition gardens. Setting up and maintenance of School Nutrition Gardens Thespecifications for setting up and maintaining a kitchen garden are basic and donot need much investment. This is to ensure that maximum number of schools cantake part in this initiative. Space There are nospecific space requirements to set up a garden in school. A plot with minimaldimensions (1m X 2m) can be used for growing sample plantation. Depending onthe availability of space, the respective school authority can decide on theplace which can be allotted for the kitchen garden. Hence, schoolsin both rural and urban locations can develop their own kitchen garden. Inplaces where there is a serious shortage of land, roof top gardens oralternatives like wall climbers can be opted for. Availability ofwater and being shade free are few of the pre-requisites before finalizingthe land for garden. Funding For funding of the School Nutrition Garden, an amount of Rs. 5,000 can be used from ‘Flexi fundcomponent for Innovative Interventions’ under the MDMS. This amount can be usedfor purchasing seeds, compost, equipment etc. DistrictMagistrate would be heading the district level committee which is empowered toimplement the scheme. The committee would determine the prioritization andallocation of funds with an average of Rs. 5000 per School Nutrition Garden. Agriculture/horticulturedepartment can be approached to procure seeds/saplings. Any of the activitieslike – levelling of the land, building the boundary wall etc. can be donethrough the works under ‘Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guaranteeact’ (MGNREGA). Maintenance and Monitoring Sense ofownership by school children is an important aspect of maintaining SchoolNutrition Garden. Schools can form Eco clubs or School Garden Clubs comprising of enthusiastic students. The principal/head teacher canlead the club. Schools can seek support from interested members from communityand from experts who can assist the children. If there isenough space, each class can have a separate garden with the class beingresponsible for the maintenance of the garden. The school can from groups with each groupbeing assigned a garden plot to take care. Differentresponsibilities can be rotated among the groups, to ensure that the wholeschool is involved with the maintenance of the garden. While the school can beopen to the involvement of others, care ought to be exercised that studentslearn from this experience.