I had a prolonged debate on school feeding with a friend recently. I pointed out that India’s school feeding does not have any ‘means testing’ and covers all children. If India with its resource base and a large school population can do it, most other countries afford it. He on the other hand pointed out that USA (read the richest nation in the world) uses means testing to filter children out since it would be infeasible to feed all children (read no other country can then afford it).
Is it feasible since India does it? Or is it not feasible since the richest country in the world ‘cannot afford’ it? What an arbitrary construct feasibility turns out to be enabling us to pursue our different political ends!