India, June 29 -- Among the few policy initiatives birthed and scaled by India, the mid-day meal scheme must rank towards the top. Pioneered in Tamil Nadu and then implemented nationwide, the scheme to feed children in schools has been remarkably successful in curbing dropout rates, give a counter-incentive for parents looking to pull their wards out of school and put them to work, and counteracting socioeconomic biases in the classroom, ensuring education for all. The gains made by the scheme in reversing malnutrition among young people in the countryside should be safeguarded and built upon, not frittered away on ideological grounds.

The controversy over contracts over mid-day meals being handed over to the International Society for Kr...