India 2018

174 India 2018
operationalize these rules and lay down set of instructions for their effective
implementation in all the schools so as to ensure adherence to the changed norms
for serving quality meals to children covered under Mid Day Meal Scheme.
The salient features of Mid Day Meal Rules 2015 include: (i.) strengthen quality
by making testing of food samples mandatory; (ii.) strengthen regularity by
allowing temporary use of other funds in case of non-availability of MDM funds
in the school and fixing responsibility in case of continued failure to serve MDM
in schools; (iii) enhanced role of School Management Committees in Supervision
of MDM in school; (iv.) supply of foodgrains at NFSA rates of ` 3 per kg for rice
and ` 2 per kg for wheat instead of BPL rates of ` 5.65 and ` 4.15 per kg
respectively; (v.) food security allowance to be paid by the state government, if
MDM is not provided in school on any school day due to non-availability of
foodgrains, cooking cost, fuel or absence of cook-cum-helper or any other reason.
Testing of Food Samples
The Mid Day Meal Guidelines for engagement of accredited labs by the state/
UT governments are put in place for testing of the meals served in the schools.
Social Audit
"Social audit" means the process in which people collectively monitor and
evaluate the planning and implementation of a programme or scheme. The social
audit was conducted by Society for Social Audit Accountability and
Transparency (SSAAT) in two districts viz., Khammam and Chittoor of
undivided Andhra Pradesh during 2012-13. Encouraged by the outcome of the
Social Audit in Andhra Pradesh, the Department had issued detailed guidelines
in 2014 for conducting of social audit under Mid Day Meal Scheme. So far 13
states viz., Bihar, Maharashtra, Odisha, Karnataka, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh,
Telangana, Nagaland, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Mizoram and
Tamil Nadu have completed the conduct of social audit.
Higher and Technical Education
There has been phenomenal growth of higher education in India since
independence. There were only 20 universities and 500 colleges at the time of
independence. These number have increased by 38 times (i.e., 760) in the case
of the Universities and 77 times (i.e. 38,498) in the case of Colleges. Similarly,
there has been tremendous growth in the enrolment also. Moreover, the statistical
overview of the higher education system clearly shows that there has been
phenomenal growth in institutions (universities, colleges, technical institutions)
as well as in intake, enrolment etc. since independence.
National Institutional Ranking Framework
The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) for educational
institutions was launched to meet a felt need for a framework that would enable
parents, students, teachers, educational institutions and other stakeholders to
rank institutions on the basis of a set of objective parameters and a transparent