Underpaid cooks subsidise midday meals by Rs 7,400 crore per year

India’s midday meal program, benefiting millions of schoolchildren, relies on the significantly underpaid labor of over 2.5 million cooks, predominantly women. They receive a mere fraction of the national minimum wage, effectively subsidizing the program by approximately ₹7,400 crore. This substantial savings for the central government exceeds half its allocated budget for the scheme.