Mid day meal programme:- Also known as School lunch programme. It comes under Ministry of education. Operated since 1961 throughout the country. Major objective is to attract more children for admission to schools and retain them so that literacy improvement of children could be brought. principles of scheme: 1. The meal should be a supplement and not a substitute to home diet. 2. The meal should supply at least one third of the total energy requirement, and half of protein requirement. 3. The cost of meal should be reasonsbly low 4. The meal should be such that it can be prepared in schools. 5. Locally available foods should be used. 6. The menu should be frequently changed to avoid monotony. {Reference: Park&;s textbook of community medicine 23 rd edition, pg no. 661}